
I ' 



^^3^S^^ 



AG£ 41 YEARS 



THE 



LIFE-WORK 



OF THE AUTHOR OF 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 



v\ 






BY 



/ 



FLORINB THAYER MCCRAY, 

Author Of "ENVIRONMENT; A STORY OF MODERN SOCIETY," ETC. 




FUNK & WAGNALLS 
NEW YORK : LONDON : 

1889 

18 AND 20 ASTOE PLACE. 44 FLEET STREET. 

All Bights Reserved. 






°\~ 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by 

FUNK & WAGNALLS, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress 
at Washington, D. C. 



i~ 3 hlz 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 
CHAPTER I. 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE AS A CHILD. THE INFLUENCES OF HEREDITY AND 
ENVIRONMENT. HER ANCESTRY AND DIRECT INTELLECTUAL INHERIT- 
ANCE. THE BRACING ATMOSPHERE OF HER HOME AND SCHOOL LIFE. 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. HEH FIRST COMPOSITION AT THE AGE 
OF NINE, WRITTEN UPON " THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NATURAL AND 
THE MORAL SUBLIME." DISTINGUISHED PEOPLE WHO GAVE A HIGH 
SOCIAL STATUS TO LITCHFIELD DURING HARRIET BEECHER'S YOUTH. 
LITERARY AND POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS . H 

CHAPTER II. 

HARRIET BEECHER GOES TO HARTFORD TO SCHOOL. SHE BECOMES ASSISTANT 
PUPIL IN THE HARTFORD FEMALE SEMINARY. HER PERSONALITY AS A 
YOUNG WOMAN. REMOVAL TO CINCINNATI WITH HER FAMILY IN 1832. 
THE SEMICOLON CLUB. LITERARY ASSOCIATION. PRIZE STORY, " UNCLE 
LOT,'* WRITTEN FOR THAT CLUB AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-TWO. nER 
MARRIAGE TO PROFESSOR CALVIN E. STOWE TWO YEARS LATER. MATER- 
NITY, AND A NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH BY CHOLERA IN THE EPIDEMIC 
OF 1845. PUBLICATION OF " THE MAYFLOWER " IN 1846. REVIEW OF 
11 UNCLE LOT " AND OTHER SKETCHES. THE SLAVERY QUESTION BECOMES 
A BURNING ISSUE , 38- 

CHAPTER III. 

PROFESSOR STOWE AND HIS FAMILY LEAVE CINCINNATI AND RETURN TO 
BRUNSWICK, MAINE. THE PERIOD OF GREATEST EXCITEMENT OVER THE 
AMENDMENT TO THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. MRS. STOWE'S FEELING THAT 
NEW ENGLANDERS IN GENERAL, NEEDED AN EXPOSITION OF SLAVERY AS 
IT PREVAILED IN SOCIAL DETAIL. HER INSPIRATION FOR HER GREAT 
WORK RECEIVED AT THE COMMUNION TABLE IN THE LITTLE CHURCH AT 
BRUNSWICK. THE DEATH OF UNCLE TOM THE FIRST SCENE WRITTEN. 
HER DOMESTIC SITUATION. FAMILY CARES AND DELICATE HEALTH. HER 
LITERARY METHODS. HER MORAL COURAGE IN VIEW OF THE SUFFERINGS 
OF ABOLITIONISTS. PUBLICATION IN WEEKLY INSTALLMENTS IN THE 
NATIONAL ERA 60 



ii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

CONTINUATION OF THE OUTLINE OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." SLAVE LIFE IN 
NEW ORLEANS. UNCLE TOM THE COACH-MAN AND STEWARD OF THE ST. 
CLARE ESTABLISHMENT. HIS GUARDIANSHIP OF LITTLE EVA. THE DEATH 
OF THE SAINTED CHILD. THE CHARACTERS WHICH ARE FAMOUS. THE 
BREAKING UP OF THE HOUSEHOLD. TOM IS PLACED UPON THE BLOCK 
AND SOLD TO SIMON LEGREE. SCENES UPON A RED RIVER PLANTATION. 
THE DEATH OF UNCLE TOM. HIS EXPERIENCE AN EPITOMIZATION OF 
EVERY POSSIBLE ARGUMENT AGAINST " THE INSTITUTION." " UNCLE 
TOM'S CABIN " AS A WORK OF LITERARY ART. A STORY WITHOUT A LOVER. 
IS IT A NOVEL? 80 

CHAPTER V. 

TEMPORARY PROSTRATION OF MRS. STOWE AFTER THE COMPLETION OF 
" UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." HER DESPAIR OF REACHING THE HEARTS OF THE 
PEOPLE. HER LETTERS TO PROMINENT PERSONAGES AT HOME AND 
ABROAD. REPLIES FROM QUEEN VICTORIA AND THE ROYAL CONSORT, T. 
B. MACAULEY, CHARLES KINGLEY, THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, HON. 
ARTHUR HELPS, ARCHBISHOP WHATELEY, FREDERCA BREMER, MADAME 
GEORGE SANDS, WHITTIER, GARRISON, HENRY WARD BEECHER, HARRIET 
MARTINEAU AND OTHERS. THE EFFECT OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN " ON 
THE SOUTH. ENORMOUS CIRCULATION OF THE BOOK. TRANSLATIONS 
INTO MORE THAN TWENTY LANGUAGES. THE COLLECTION OF EDITIONS 
AND VERSIONS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY. DESCRIPTIONS OF 
CURIOUS SPECIMENS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE AUTHOR AT HARTFORD, 
CONN. INSTANCES OF ITS EFFECTS UPON THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS 
OPINIONS OF THE WORLD. REV. CHARLES E. STOWE' S REPORT OF ITS 
AMERICAN SALE DURING 1887. AN ACCOUNT GIVEN BY THE EDITOR OF 
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY OF MRS. STOWE'S FIRST ATTENDANCE AT THE 
THEATRICAL REPRESENTATION OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." 103 

CHAPTER VI. 

PROFESSOR STOWE'S ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHAIR OF SACRED LITERATURE AT 
ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. THE FAMILY REMOVAL TO ANDOVF.R 
IN SEPTEMBER, 1852. THE AUTHOR OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN " AS A PRAC- 
TICAL MANAGER OF DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. HER EFFICIENCY IN HOUSE 
DECORATIONS AND MILLINERY. THE " KEY TO UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." 
NINETY THOUSAND COPIES SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES IN ONE MONTH. 
MRS. STOWE'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE AS GIVEN BY HERSELF, AND AN 
INTIMATE ACQUAINTANCE. MRS. STOWE'S EUROPEAN TRIP. HER RECEP- 
TION AT LIVERPOOL. A BREAKFAST IN HONOR OF THE AMERICAN 
AUTHOR. THE CONGENIAL ATMOSPHERE OF SOCIETY IN LIVERPOOL. THE 
MEETING GIVEN BY THE LIVERPOOL LADIES' ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 
PRESENTATION OF A TESTIMONIAL TO MRS. STOWE. THE JOURNEY FROM 
LIVERPOOL TO GLASGOW. DEMONSTRATIONS OF SCOTCH PEOPLE AT EVERY 
STATION. OVATIONS AT GLASGOW 124 



CONTENTS. iii 

CHAPTER VII. 

MRS. STOWE IN SCOTLAND. SAIL DOWN THE CLYDE. ENTHUSIASTIC RECEP- 
TION FROM THE COMMON PEOPLE. RECEPTION AT EDINBURGH BY THE 
LORD PROVOST, MAGISTRACY OF THE CITY, AND COMMITTEES OF ANTI- 
SLAVERY SOCIETIES. RECOGNIZED BY RIOTOUSLY EXPRESSIVE STREET 
BOYS. THE GREAT EDINBURGH MEETING, AND SCOTCH PENNY OFFERING 
IN BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN SLAVES. INSCRIPTION UPON THE MASSIVE 
SALVER WHICH BORE A THOUSAND GOLDEN SOVEREIGNS. HOSPITALITIES 
AT ABERDEEN. GREAT PUBLIC MEETING AND PRESENTATION TO THE 
AUTHOR OF " V UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." DUNDEE OVATION, AND PRESENTA- 
TION OF WORKS OF LOCAL AUTHORS. ANOTHER SOIREE AT EDINBURGH, 
GIVEN BY WORKING MEN. VISIT TO ABBOTSFORD, DRYBURGH AND MEL- 
ROSE ABBEYS. THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM AND TEMPERANCE ONE IN 
SCOTLAND. GREAT TEMPERANCE MEETINGS. ARRIVAL AT LONDON. 
THE LORD MAYOR'S DINNER. DISTINGUISHED GUESTS WHO UNITED IN 
HONORS TO MRS. STOWE. DINNER WITH THE EARL OF CARLISLE. LON- 
DON GIN PALACES 150 

CHAPTER VIII. 

MR. ARTHUR HELPS AT LORD CARLISLE'S DINNER PARTY. MRS. STOWE'S 
IMPRESSIONS OF THE COMPANY. MEETING OF THE LONDON BIBLE 
SOCIETY AT EXETER HALL. LORD SHAFTESBURY IN THE CHAIR. 
SIGHT-SEEING. CELEBRATED PEOPLE. THE GREAT MEETING AT STAF- 
FORD HOUSE. DESCRIPTION OF A LUNCHEON AT THE FINEST PALACE IN 
ENGLAND THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. LORD SHAFTESBURY'S SPEECH AND 
PRESENTATION OF "THE ADDRESS OF THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND TO THE 
WOMEN OF AMERICA ON THE SUBJECT OF SLAVERY." A GRAND HIS- 
TORIC DOCUMENT. THE BRACELET OF MASSIVE GOLD GIVEN BY THE 
DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND TO MRS. STOWE. THE GREAT ANTI-SLAVERY 
MEETING AT EXETER HALL ~ 174 

CHAPTER IX. 

A FAMILY PARTY AT WINDSOR. MISPLACED SENTIMENTALISM. PORTRAIT 
OF MRS. STOWE BY RICHMOND. A BROWN SILK DRESS FOR THE AUTHOR 
OF "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN," THE OCCASION OF AGITATION ALL OVER ENG- 
LAND. MRS. STOWE DINING WITH THE DUKE OF ARGYLE. A SECOND 
MEETING WITH MR. GLADSTONE. MRS. STOWE'S RECOLLECTIONS OF II I V . 
A RECENT LETTER FROM HIM TESTIFYING TO THE FAVORABLE IMPRESSIONS 
OF THE AUTHOR OF "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" RETAINED BY THE GRAND 
OLD MAN. BREAKFAST AT RICHARD COBDEN'S. CONCERT AT STAFFORD- 
HOUSE. THE BLACK SWAN. FIRST MEETING WITH LADY BYRON. PRE- 
SENTATION OF A MASSIVE SILVER INKSTAND AND GOLD PEN TO MRS. 
STOWE. WITH MARIA WESTON CHAPMAN IN PARIS. SOME LRT CRITI- 
CISMS. THROUGH SWITZERLAND. MRS. STOWE ARRAIGNED FOR CRUELTY 
TO AN ANIMAL 



IV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. 

RETURN TO PARIS. ENTERTAINED BY MONSIEUR AND MADAME DE BELLOC. 
INTERVIEW WITH BERANGER. MRS. STOWE'S ESTIMATE OF THE FRENCH 
CHARACTER. VISIT TO LADY CARLISLE AT YORK. THE " LEEDS OFFER- 
ING." A DEPUTATION FROM IRELAND PRESENT THE AUTHOR OF " UNCLE 
TOM'S CABIN" WITH A BEAUTIFUL CASKET OF BOG OAK FILLED WITH 
SOVEREIGNS. RETURN HOME. MRS. STOWE'S LETTERS COLLECTED AND 
PUBLISHED IN ' SUNNY MEMORIES OF FOREIGN LANDS." " A PEEP INTO 
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." A DRAMATIZATION OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN " 
CALLED "THE CHRISTIAN SLAVE." REPUBLICATION OF "THE MAY 
FLOWER." ANOTHER ANTI-SLAVERY STORY. " DRED," NOT A SEQUEL, 
BUT A SUPPLEMENT TO " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." ITS AIM TO SHOW THE 
EFFECTS OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY UPON THE WHITE PEOPLE OF 
THE SOUTH. ITS SALE ONLY SECOND TO THAT OF HER GREATEST 
WORK 217 

CHAPTER XI. 

• 

MRS. STOWE'S SECOND TRIP TO EUROPE. THE AUTHOR OF " UNCLE TOM'S 
CABIN " IN HER HOME AT ANDOVER. SOME DOGS WHO HAVE APPEARED 
AS CHARACTERS IN MRS. STOWE'S WRITINGS. THE DEATH OF HENRY 
STOWE AT DARTMOUTH. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SAD EVENT UPON MRS. 
STOWE'S THEOLOGICAL VIEWS. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL AND FRANCIS H. 
UNDERWOOD VISIT MRS. STOWE AT ANDOVER IN BEHALF OF THE ATLANTIC 
MONTHLY. ACCOUNT OF THE BEGINNING OF THAT MAGAZINE. MRS. 
STOWE'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE MONTHLY. "THE MINISTER'S WOO- 
ING." A WONDERFUL PIECE OF THEOLOGICAL CRITICISM. AS WARMLY 
WELCOMED AND BITTERLY ASSAILED AS HER ANTI-SLAVERY STORY. THE 
INDIVIDUALS WHO STOOD FOR SOME OF THE PROMINENT CHARACTERS 240 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE MINISTER'S WOOING, CONTINUED. DOCTOR HOPKINS AS A LOVER. THE 
LOSS OF JAMES MARVYN'S SHIP. A MOTHER'S INCONSOLABLE GRIEF FOR 
HER UNREGENERATE SON. "VIEWS OF DIVINE GOVERNMENT." THE 
RELIGION OF OLD BLACK C AND ACE. COLONEL AARON BURR. MADAME 
DE FRONTIGNAC. RETURN OF JAMES MARVYN. MISS PRISSY'S INTERVEN- 
TION. THE EFFECT OF THE STORY UPON EMINENT THEOLOGIANS. PRO- 
FESSOR PARK'S CONVERSATIONS WITH THE AUTHOR. A RECENT TESTI- 
MONIAL OF HIS ADMIRATION AND ESTEEM FOR MRS. STOWE. THE MINIS- 
TER'S WOOING NOT A HISTORICAL NOVEL EXCEPT IN ITS REPRESENTA- 
TIONS OF THE METAPHYSICAL EVENTS BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE INFLU- 
ENCE OF THE THEOLOGY OF THE PERIOD. VARIOUS HISTORICAL 
ANACHRONISMS. ARCHBISHOP WHATELY'S ESTIMATE OF THE LITERARY 
VALUE OF THE WORK. A LETTER FROM GLADSTONE 270 



CONTENTS. V 

CHAPTER XIII. 

MRS. STOWE BECOMES A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE INDEPENDENT. TnE HOMI- 
LETIC POWER OF THE SISTER OF HENRY WARD BEECHER. A THIRD TRIP 
TO EUROPE. LETTERS FROM ITALY. HER INTEREST IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
OF STATE. RETURN TO AMERICA. EARNEST WORK UPON THE POLITICAL 
CRISIS OF THE UNITED STATES. A NEW NOVEL IN THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. 
" AGNES OF SORRENTO," LAID IN ITALY AT THE TIME OF THE RENAISSANCE. 
A REVIEW OF THE CONDITION OF RELIGION, OF TEMPORAL GOVERNMENT 
AND PERFECTION IN ART. THE REIGN OF THE BORGIAS. SCENES IN THE 
ORANGE GROVES OF SORRENTO. CONVENTUAL EXISTENCE. INFLUENCE 
OF THE PICTURESQUE ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION UPON [THE, PEOPLE. 
JEROME SAVANOROLA. PADRE FRANCESCO, A MONK WHO WAS YET A 
MAN 288 

CHAPTER XIV. 

AGNES AT THE CONVENT. A SELECTION WHICH SHOWS THE AUTHOR'S^EEL- 
ING AGAINST THE SENTENCE OF UNMITIGATED DOOM WHICH ACCOMPANIED 
THE GLAD TIDINGS OF SALVATION. HER APPRECIATION^ SOME OF THE 
BEAUTIFUL SENTIMENTS OF THE EARLY ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION. 
FATHER ANTONIO, THE ARTIST MONK. SAN MARCO. SAVANOROLA'S CON- 
VICTION THAT THE SONGS OF A PEOPLE HAVE MORE PERSUASIVE POWER 
THAN ITS LAWS. AGNES AND OLD ELSIE MAKE A PILGRIMAGE TO ROME. 
SARELLI'S MOUNTAIN REFUGE. RECEIVED BY A PRINCESS. FALLING INTO 
THE JAWS OF THE PAPAL MONSTER. RESCUED BY SARELLI. ROMANTIC 
CONCLUSION 305 

CHAPTER XV. 

"THE PEARL OF ORR'S ISLAND." SCENE AT HARPSWELL, MAINE, AT THE 
BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. LIFE UPON THE RUGGED NEW 
ENGLAND COAST. FLOTSAM AND JETSAM. EFFECT OF JEFFERSON'S 
EMBARGO OF 1807. THE CHARACTER OF MR. SEWELL BASED UPON TnE 
PERSONALITY OF JOHN P. BRACE. MRS. STOWE'S IMPROVEMENT IN 
LITERARY STYLE. MRS. STOWE'S " REPLY " TO THE AFFECTIONATE AND 
CHRISTIAN ADDRESS OF THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND TO THE WOMEN OF 
AMERICA. DEATH OF DR. LYMAN BEECHER. MRS. STOWE'S ACCOUNT OF 
HIS MENTAL CONDITION. DYING AS AN OLD TREE DIES AT THE TOP FI BS P. 
" SOJOURNER TRUTH— THE LIBYAN SIBYL." STORY'S STATUE, MATERIAL- 
IZED FROM MRS. STOWE'S DESCRIPTION OF THE AFRICAN PRIESTESS. 
" HOUSE AND HOME PAPERS." 3 * 9 

CHAPTER XVI. 

SEVEN ESSAYS, CALLED " LITTLE FOXES." MRS. STOWE'S CONTINUED CON- 
NECTION WITH THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. "THE CHIMNEY CORNER " 
PAPERS— MRS. STOWE'S IDEAS UPON THE WOMAN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT. 



347 



yi CONTENTS. 

ARTICLES OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO HER SEX UPON TOPICS RANGING FROM 
SUFFRAGE TO HOME DUTIES. ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE EMANCIPATION.OF 
AMERICAN SLAVES. MRS. STOWE TAKES THE BRACELET OF MASSIVE GOLD 
LINKS AND HAS IT INSCRIBED WITH THE DATES OF ABOLITION IN THE 
UNITED STATES. RENEWED INTEREST IN " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." MRS. 
STOWE BESIEGED BY CELEBRITY HUNTERS. THE WOMAN AS SHE APPEARED 
TO STRANGERS. AN EPISODE AT A SUMMER RESORT. " OUR YOUNG FOLKS," 
ANEW MAGAZINE WITH MRS. STOWE AS ITS MOST FAMOUS CONTRIBU- 
TOR 

CHAPTER XVII. 

MRS. STOWE'S FIRST VISIT TO THE SOUTH IN 1865. PURCHASE OF AN ESTATE 
UPON THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER. "MEN OF OUR TIMES; OR, LEADING 
PATRIOTS OP THE DAY." EIGHTEEN BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF STATES- 
MEN, GENERALS AND ORATORS. "RELIGIOUS POEMS." MRS. STOWE 
APPEARS A CO-EDITOR WITH DONALD G. MITCHELL (IK. MARVEL) OF 
HEARTH AND HOME. MRS. STOWE'S THIRD GREAT WORK APPEARS IN 
1869. "OLD TOWN FOLKS," LAID IN THE LAST CENTURY IN THE TOWN OF 
NATIC, MASSACHUSETTS. SAM LAWSON AND OTHER CHARACTERS WHICH 
HAVE BECOME CLASSIC. PROFESSOR STOWE FURNISHED MUCH MATERIAL 
FOR THE WORK, AND IS DESCRIBED AS THE HERO OF THE STORY. THE 
PECULIAR EXPERIENCES OF " THE VISIONARY BOY." PROFESSOR STOWE'S 
OWN PSYCHOLOGICAL PECULIARITY. CORRESPONDENCE WITH GEORGE 
ELIOT UPON THE SUBJECT OF SPIRITUALISM. "SAM LAWSON'S FIRESIDE 
STORIES." i 367 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LAST GREAT EVENT OF MRS. STOWE'S LITERARY CAREER. " THE TRUE 
STORY OF LADY BYRON'S LIFE." AN ARTICLE WHICH SHOCKED THE 
WHOLE READING WORLD. VOLUMINOUS ABUSE OF MRS. STOWE BY THE 
DEFENDERS OF LORD BYRON AND THE SERIOUS DEPRECATION OF MANY 
FRIENDLY REVIEWERS IN THE UNITED STATES AS WELL AS GREAT 
BRITAIN. MRS. STOWE'S CHILDISH IMPRESSIONS OF LORD BYRON. HER 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH LADY BYRON BEGUN DURING HER FIRST VISIT TO 
ENGLAND. LADY BYRON'S STORY CONFIDED TO HER IN 1856. LADY 
BYRON'S CONSULTATION WITH MRS. STOWE. DECISION TO REMAIN 
SILENT DURING LADY BYRON'S LIFE. RE-OPENING OF THE CONTROVERSY 
THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER, BY BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE IN A REVIEW OF 
THE GUICCIOLI BOOK OF MEMOIRS. THE REVIEWER'S ABUSE OF LADY 
BYRON. THE SPIRIT OF THE ARTICLE ECHOED IN AMERICA AND THE 
"MEMOIR'S" OF BYRON'S MISTRESS RE-PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED 
STATES. MRS. STOWE'S EXPECTATION OF A VINDICATION FROM LADY 
BYRON'S ENGLISH FRIENDS. HER RELUCTANT ASSUMPTION OF THE DUTY. 
HER CONSCIENTIOUSNESS IN THE MATTER. HER REPULSIVE DISCLOSURE 
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE AGAINST LORD BYRON'S SEDUCTIVE IMMORALI- 
TIES 384 



CONTENTS. vii 

CHAPTER XIX. 

"MY WIFE AND I; OB HARRY HENDERSON'S HISTORY." ASERIAL IN "THE 
CHRISTIAN UNION." THE STORY OF A YANKEE 'BOY, WHO GOES TO COL- 
LEGE, ADOPTS LITERATURE AS A PROFESSION IN NEW YORK ; THEFRAME- 
WORK UPON WHICH TO HANG MANY INTERESTING DISCUSSIONS. ' "PINK 
AND WHITE TYRANNY." A SOCIETY NOVEL WITH AN ADMITTED MORAL. 
"PALMETTO LEAVES." PICTURESQUE AND SDGGESTIVEj LETTERS FROM 
FLORIDA. " POGANUC PEOPLE." THE LAST IMPORTANT WORK OF THE 
AUTHOR OF "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." AGAIN THE LOVES AND LIVES OF 
PLAIN NEW ENGLAND FOLK. MUCH OF THIS STORY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. 
AN INSTRUCTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION ESTABLISHED BY LAW IN 
NEW ENGLAND. MRS. STOWE'S CHILDISH RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES. THE 
CONVERSION OF ZEPH HIGGINS AT THE SCHOOL HOUSE MEETING. ONE OF 
THE MOST INTENSELY POWERFUL AND DRAMATIC SCENES EVER 
DEPICTED. THE CELEBRATION OF THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF HAR- 
RIET BEECHER STOWE. A GARDEN PARTY AT THE HOME OF HON. AND 
MRS. WILLIAM CLAFFIN AT NEWTONVILLE, NEAR BOSTON 404 






ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page 

1. Steel Portrait. H. B. Stowe at 41 Years op Age. 

Frontispiece. 

2. Fac-Simile. Mrs. Stowe's Letter of Dec. 11, 1887. . 3 

3. Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me 60 

4. The House in which "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was 

Written, Brunswick, Me. 106 

5. Fac-Simile. Mrs. Stowe's Inscription op Oct. 29, 1887. 224 

6. House Built by Harriet Beecher Stowe, at Hartford, 

Conn., in 1864 338 

7. Harriett Beecher Stowe at Work 362 

8. Harriet Beecher Stowe as the Author of "Old 

Town Folks." 372 

9. Home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, on Forest Street, 

Hartford, Conn 4»)i 

10. The Winter Home, at Mandarin, Fla. . . . 416 

11. Harriet Beecher Stowe in Her Old Age. . 






j££^^cJ'/?£^i 





THE AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 

The authenticity of facts given in a work of this kind 
is of paramount importance. The writer having received 
assistance which it would be ingratitude, not to say pre- 
sumption, to leave unacknowledged, wishes to return thanks 
to the numerous persons who have kindly aided her in her 
work, and, first of all, to refer with special tenderness to the 
friendship which the great author accorded to a young 
friend, and the cordial assistance given by her and her im- 
mediate family, to this history. 

Having for several years cherished the friendship of Mrs. 
Stowe as one of the precious things in life, having been a 
frequent visitor at her house and a welcome companion in 
her walks, and one of the last acquaintances whom the 
famous woman recognized in the coming shadow of the 
clouded mentality which so sadly obscured her last days, 
the subscriber has been frequently called upon to write of 
the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which she several times 
has done, though never without the knowledge and consent 
of Mrs. Stowe and her family. 

When, about one year ago, the publishers of this work, 
made a proposition for a history, of The Life Work of the 
Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the writer, though strongly 
inclining towards such an effort had no thought of under- 
taking it, without the full knowledge and consent of those 
most nearly interested. There were several cogent reasons 
for this proviso, chief among them being a sense of honor, 

5 



6 the author's acknowledgements. 

which must prevent any breach of the hospitality and con- 
fidence accorded to a personal acquaintance. Therefore the 
writer called upon Mrs. Stowe at her home, told her of 
the proposition and asked if it would be agreeable to her to 
have the work done. She replied, " Certainly, my dear 
friend. You are quite the one for it. If a history of my 
life work will interest or benefit any one, I shall be glad." 

A few hours later her maid brought to the writer the 
note which here appears. 

Eealizing, however, that her son, Eev. Charles E. Stowe. 
who was also a personal friend, would naturally be her legal 
and literary executor, and that he might possibly demur at 
his mother's authorization, as she was at that time rapidly 
becoming weakened in her mind, the writer sent to him a 
long letter, giving a full account of the proposed work, her 
feeling of restriction as a friend to whom many facts had 
been given without reference to such a work as this, at the 
same time citing some ideas of her publishers and Eev. Dr. 
J. M. Sherwood their well known literary critic of whom 
she had asked advice. In reply came the following letter 
which sufficiently indicates the import of the one to which 
it replies, as well as previous confidential conversations 
upon Mr. Stowe's own projects for the future. 

Hartford, Dec. 12, 1887. 
Mrs. Florine Thayer McCray : 

Dear Madam : — I appreciate highly the delicacy of feeling 
which you have displayed in the matter of the work which you 
are contemplating; yet at the same time I am of Dr. Sherwood's 
mind in the matter. 

In the first place even if I did object you would have a perfect 
right to go on, as it is public property. 



THE AUTHORS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ' 7 

In the second place, your work will be of direct advantage to 
me pecuniarily, by acting as an advertisement, it will increase the 
sale of her works and stimulate public interest in her and her 
writings. 

The work which I am doing, will be likely to be all the better 
received for the work which you are about to publish. 

So I say go on with it, and I will do all I can to assist you. 

Very sincerely yours, 

C. E. Stowe. 

In confirmation of this consent and promise, Mr. Stowe 
at various times afforded considerable assistance, cour- 
teously loaning an artist's proof engraving from the famous 
portrait made by Kichmond, in London in 1853, for the 
purpose of its reproduction in this volume, and spending a 
long afternoon with the writer at the Safety Vaults wherein 
are stored the magnificent pieces of silver plate, which 
were given as testimonials to the author of Uncle Tom's 
Cabin, on the occasion of her first visit to Europe. To him 
we are further indebted for conversations upon the religious 
and psychological experiences of his father and mother. 

To the Misses Stowe, we are under obligations for infor- 
mation not otherwise to be obtained, and views of souvenirs 
of their mother's wonderful career. 

To Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker, Mrs. Stowe's youngest 
sister, for descriptions of her famous sister's personal appear- 
ance, and numerous important actions from the time before 
Mrs. Stowe's marriage, to the last, when she remained her 
devoted and trusted companion. 

To Mrs. Mary F. Perkins of Boston, Mrs. Stowe's older 
sister, for reminiscences of Harriet's childhood. 

To Dr. Edward Beecher of Brooklyn, and his wife, for 



8 the author's acknowledgements. 

conversation upon her school days and her subsequent deal- 
ings with domestic, religious and literary problems in life. 
To Rev. Joseph II. Twichell, of Hartford, Dr. Edwards 
A. Park, of Andover Theological Seminary, Francis II. 
Underwood, founder of the "Atlantic Monthly," and to 
many other sources, the author makes acknowledgements 
for valuable information, affording much interesting matter 
both personal and historical. 



PREFACE. 

The design of this work is not to trench upon the 
ground of strict biography. In treating of THE LIFE- 
WOEK OF THE AUTHOE OF UNCLE TOM'S 
CABIN, the writer has undertaken a labor of love which 
finds its excuse in the desire to present to the young peo- 
ple of the age, and particularly the young women of 
America, a list of the literary works of Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, with an outline of each, and an unpretentious run- 
ning commentary, such as is naturally suggested in their 
reading. 

The main facts of Mrs. Stowe's life are given, with such 
reference to her personal experience as seems to explain 
the motives, the conception, and the prosecution of the 
great works, which have made her our most famous 
author. 

To these, are added personal reminiscences, in which the 
writer claims not only the ownership which all admirers 
have in the authentic reports of the personality of a well 
loved author, but also the special right accorded to a wit- 
ness and a friend. 

What under other circumstances, might seem to be 
catering to idle curiosity, is sanctioned and dignified by 
the feeling of human sympathy it engenders, between the 
great author and her vast army of readers, and the possi- 
bilities it opens to others, who are, as they suppose, ham- 

9 



10 PREFACE. 

pered by physical conditions and the demands of domestic 
life. 

Tiie achievements of Mrs. Stowe are an example of the 
power of genius and will, to overcome obstacles which, 
doubtless in many cases have deprived the world of bene- 
ficial ideas. 

If this history of THE LIFE-WORK OF THE 
AUTHOR OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN incites . fresh 
interest in her reader and yields a tithe of the profit and 
deep satisfaction experienced by the writer in its prepara- 
tion, it will have amply demonstrated its right to be. 

While the natural bias is always in favor of a dear 
friend and venerated author, the writer has tried not to 
ignore the limitations which are inevitable to human 
nature. It is hoped that all references to the personal 
peculiarities which eminently characterized the subject of 
this work, making her original and interesting above all 
the persons that the writer has ever known, will be received 
in the spirit in which they are set forth. To her, they 
appear infinitely engaging, and, mingled as they were, with 
the ineffable sweetness and fine humor, which deepened in 
Mrs. Stowe's later years, most tenderly appeal to the affec- 
tionate memory cherished by 

Florine Thayer McCray. 

Hartford, Conn., July, 1889. 



CHAPTER I. 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE AS A CHILD. THE INFLUENCES OF 
HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT. HER ANCESTRY AND DI- 

. RECT INTELLECTUAL INHERITANCE. THE BRACING ATMOS- 
PHERE OF HER HOME AND SCHOOL LIFE. EARLY RELIG- 
IOUS IMPRESSIONS. HER FIRST COMPOSITION AT THE AGE 
OF NINE, WRITTEN UPON " THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 
NATURAL AND THE MORAL SUBLIME." DISTINGUISHED 
PEOPLE WHO GAVE A HIGH SOCIAL STATUS TO LITCHFIELD 
DURING HARRIET BEECHER'S YOUTH. LITERARY AND 
POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born at Litchfield, Con- 
necticut, June 14th, 1812. She was the seventh child of 
Dr. Lyman Beecher, who with his eleven sons and daugh- 
ters who grew to maturity, comprised a family which is 
perhaps more widely and favorably known than any other 
in the United States. The father and seven sons were cler- 
gymen, and three of the four daughters, have made them- 
selves powerful factors in the progress of civilization as 
authors and reformers. With the shades of difference 
which always obtain between individual characters, they 
bore a striking resemblance to each other, not only physi- 
cally, but intellectually and morally. The father was per- 
haps a trifle below average size, and some of the sons a little 
above it, neither stout nor slight, but compactly and 
ruggedly built, with a certain abruptness and want of grace, 

11 



12 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

common to New Englanders of the past generation. Their 
features were large and irregular, but with a strength of 
bearing, which made the men almost handsome, while the 
faces of the daughters, all but one of whom were plain, 
were illumined by an expression of bright intelligence, and 
wit which sparkled in the bluish grey eyes. 

All of them had the energy of character, restless activ- 
ity, strong convictions, tenacity of purpose, and deep sym- 
pathies which are requisite to the character of such propo- 
gandists. The father and sons were ever in the thickest 
of the religious battles of their time, always however, 
dealing with questions which were full of vitality, rather 
than dwelling upon metaphysical abstractions which were 
so anxiously considered by most members of the Presby- 
terian church to which they belonged. Temperance, for- 
eign and home missions, the influence of commerce on pub- 
lic morality, the conversion of young men, the establish- 
ment of theological seminaries, colonization, abolition, and 
the political obligations of Christians, engaged their energies. 

In order to understand and appreciate the springs of ac- 
tion in the life-work of great men and women, one must 
not overlook their inherited characteristics, for "character 
is destiny," or their social and intellectual education, for 
these influences are so potential as to have received recog- 
nition in the social scientists' terms, — heredity and environ- 
ment. The father of this family, so remarkable in their 
personality and achievements, so distinctly individual in 
their nature and utterances as to be generally known as a 
" tribe," and to call forth the celebrated saying attributed 
to Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New Haven, an eminent New 
England divine and literary critic, that there were " only 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIX. 13 

three kinds of people in the world ; the good, the bad and 
the Beechers" — was a descendant of an English family who 
came to America sixteen years after the landing of the 
Pilgrims of the Mayflower. He was the son of a New 
England blacksmith, who was one of the best read men in 
the country, being particularly well versed in astronomy, 
geography and history. Lyman Beech er was taught the 
trade of his father, and like a couple of intellectual Titans, 
they discussed science and theology to the deep blowings 
of the forge and the beat of their clanking hammers. The 
son received a solid education and graduated at Yale col- 
lege at the age of twenty-two. 

Having passed through a profound religious experience 
he made choice of the Christian ministry, as his profession, 
and with three classmates entered the Divinity School at 
New Haven under Dr. Dwight. From this he graduated 
with honor, and at once assumed charge of the Presby- 
terian church at East Hampton, Long Island. He had 
found time however, during his vacations at Old Guilford, 
to fall in love with sweet Roxana Foote, the daughter of 
Eli Foote, of Nutplains, a genial and cultivated man who, 
though a royalist and a churchman, was universally re- 
spected and honored in a puritan and revolutionary com- 
munity. She was the queen of a coterie of young girls at 
Nutplains who used to sing hymns, spin, read Sir Charles 
Grandison and Miss Burney's " Evelina," talk about beaux 
and have merry times together, bewitching the hearts of 
the many bashful swains who respectfully gathered about 
them. Young Lyman Beecher went into love as into 
everything else, at full speed, and with resistless enthusi- 
asm, and soon became engaged to marry Miss Foote. Dur- 



14 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ing the two years previous to their wedding he studied 
hard, observed intelligently, and formed those habits of 
original thought which characterized his work in after 
life and were transmitted to his children. 

When Harriet was born, her father, then pastor of the 
First Congregational Society at Litchfield, Connecticut, 
was thirty-six years of age, in the full vigor of his early 
manhood, a man of fine physique, great power of mind, of 
indomitable force, high ambition, and electric eloquence. 
He was withal, genial in his manners, possessing a healthy 
appreciation of the humorous, and pre-eminently endowed 
with that faculty of philosophical deduction from experi- 
ence, which we call common sense. 

There were already five brothers and sisters in the parson- 
age at Litchfield, who filled the house full of noise, and their 
parents hearts with pleasant trials. There was Catherine 
who was in her twelfth year, already developing a powerful 
intellect and a high-strung ambition, which made her the 
favorite companion of her father, and- filled her mother's heart 
with mingled pride and solicitude; William a sturdy lad of 
nine; Edward a curly haired fellow two years younger, full 
of boisterous fun, and Constantly in chase of adventures at 
home and afield ; Mary a child of three ; and George who 
had to be weaned to make way for the new-comer. There 
had been an infant two years before, a girl named Harriet, 
whose death in the first few weeks of existence is touch- 
ingly referred to as the first bereavement of the parents 
and the affectionate sister and brother, who were old enough 
to mourn the speedy taking off of the little one. When 
another baby girl opened its eyes to the light that mid- June 
day in 1812, it was named for the one who was lost, and 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 15 

soon became the object of the tender affection of the adult 
family, and the victim of the enthusiastic caresses of the 
lusty boys, who had already begun to assist their father 
about the house and barn, and to share his angling and 
hunting excursions, and his tramps through the woods. 

Harriet, however, was quickly deprived of her royal pre- 
rogative as baby queen of the household, by the advent in 
a year, of a brother, who was named Henry WardBeecher* 
and the last of the nine children who had come in quick 
succession to the arms of gentle Koxana Foote was Charles, 
who was an infant when she died Sept. 27, 1816. She was 
physically worn out ; but it is the testimony of her chil- 
dren that she never lost the beautiful calmness and sweet 
serenity of manner, with which she moved on through the 
crowding duties of an arduous life. They pressed heavily 
upon her, not only as the wife of a young clergyman with 
straitened means and as the mother of eight living children, 
but also as a teacher, having with the assistance of her 
younger sister, Mary Hubbard, carried on a school, in 
which she taught the higher English branches, besides 
French, drawing, painting and embroidery, in which her 
own children received instruction with several young ladies, 
who were members of the large family circle. 

The mother of the celebrated " Beecher family " was a 
woman of rare virtues, cultivated, highly educated and 
accomplished, and an artist of no mean ability. She took 
up the work of life with unshrinking devotion and was in- 
deed a help meet to her husband, visiting, riding, walking, 
reading and talking with him, stimulating him to his mar- 
velously productive work, and acting as anchor and bal- 
ance to his less well-poised temper, which sometimes ap- 



16 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

peared in erratic performances, of which many amusing 
stories are told. 

The disciples of Froebel maintain that the influences 
upon human character which are most lasting, are those 
which are brought to bear upon the mind of children be- 
fore they are six years of age. Little Harriet Beechertook 
in refinement and culture with her mother's milk and, in 
the atmosphere of her infantile home life, breathed strength 
and purity of thought, and daily opened her baby eyes 
upon objects and scenes which contributed to a wide cul- 
ture, seldom to be obtained in New England at that time. 
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, being asked when the train- 
ing of a child should begin, replied "A hundred years before 
it is born." The same cultivated American is modestly 
boastful of the fact, that he as a child built houses of quarto 
volumes, of a rarity and literary value quite out of the reach 
of persons of less culture and means than his grandfather. 

There were no children's books for the young Beechers, 
no pictures adapted to an infant's comprehension, none of 
the modern dilution of things worth knowing, to fit them 
for immature intellects. The younger children studied 
what they must, listened receptively to the conversation of 
their elders, and imbibed strength and force of character in 
the very atmosphere of home. 

An important element in the literary and domestic his- 
tory of the Beecher family, was found in the society of 
their aunt, Mary Hubbard, and an uncle, Samuel Foote. 
Mrs. Beecher's tastes were rather for subjects of a scientific 
and metaphysical cast, while Mary Hubbard, the charming 
young widow, whose fascinations drew a throng of law stu- 
dents and young professional men about her, inclined pre- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 17 

dominantly to polite literature and works of the imagina- 
tion. She was a delightful reader, and the older children 
have a most vivid recollection of the impassioned tones in 
which her favorite authors were given to the family circle. 
Uncle Samuel Foote was a sea captain, a man of great prac- 
tical common sense, united with large ideality, cultivated 
taste and wide reading. On his return from each voyage, 
he came to the home at Litchfield, each time making his ad- 
vent as a sort of brilliant genius from another sphere, bring- 
ing gifts, and tales of wonders, and descriptions of far coun- 
tries, which seemed to wake new faculties in them all. 
Sometimes he came from the shores of Spain, with memen- 
toes from the Alhambra and the ancient Moors ; sometimes 
from Africa bringing Oriental head-gear or Moorish slip- 
pers ; again from South America, with ingots of silver, or 
strange implements from the tombs of the Incas, or ham- 
mocks wrought by the South American Indians. 

Moreover, Uncle Samuel Foote possessed a species of 
good humored combativeness, that led him to attack, some- 
times jocosely and often in earnest, the special theories and 
prejudices of his friends. As a result he and Dr. Lyman 
Beecher were in continual skirmishes, in which all the 
Hew England peculiarities of character, and especially their 
trend of theological thought, were held up in caricature, or 
for serious discussion. There were long arguments, to 
which the children listened absorbedly, in which he main- 
tained that the Turks were more honest than Christians, 
bringing very startling facts in evidence. They heard his 
tales of the Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops which 
he had carried to and from Spain and America, whom he 
affirmed to be as truly learned and pious and devoted to 
2 



18 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the good of men, as any Protestant to be found in America. 
His account of the Jews in Morocco was most curious ; 
their condition appearing, even to his skeptical mind, the 
strongest verification of Hebrew prophecy. The new fields 
of vision which he presented, the skill and marvelous 
adroitness of his arguments, and the array of facts which 
he brought to bear upon these topics, taxed to the utmost 
the intellectual powers of Lyman Beecher, and the brilliant 
conversations made an impression never to be effaced, upon 
the plastic minds of the young people who listened. 

In the literary circles of Litchfield, and especially among 
women of culture, Captain Foote appeared in the most 
heroic and romantic light. He spoke the polite languages 
with ease, and had a fair knowledge of the various dialects 
in the foreign countries he had visited. Best of all, he al- 
ways brought a stock of new books when he came to Litch- 
field, which he and Aunt Mary Hubbard read aloud. This 
was the time when Scott, Byron, Moore, and that bright 
galaxy of contemporary writers,' were issuing their works 
at frequent intervals, and the childrens' minds were stored 
with the wierd tales from Scott's Ballads. The Lay of the 
Last Minstrel and Marmion became household lore, The 
Cotter's Saturday Night, and the touching verses of the 
Ayrshire ploughman who had burst into song, as well as 
the heroic poems and rhythmical complaints of Byron, 
shared a place with Mother Goose, in the affections of that 
group of receptive boys and girls. 

Harriet was between three and four years old when her 
mother died. The few remembrances that Mrs. Stowe had 
of her are most pathetic. Her last look at the cold body; 
the funeral, which Henry was too young to attend, remain- 



UNCLE TOMS CABIX. ] 9 

ing at home frolicing in the sun; his ignorant joy with his 
toys, and the halo of golden curls ill according with bis 
little black frock ; the scene at the grave, and the childish 
failure to understand that her mother was in Heaven, while 
yet she saw her body laid in the ground, have been fre- 
quently recalled in conversation with her friends. 

Mrs. Stowe told how Henry was discovered one day not 
long after her mothers' funeral, digging earnestly under sis- 
ter Catharine's window, and when she called to him to 
know what he was doing, he lifted his curly head with the 
utmost simplicity and answered, " Why, I am going to 
Heaven to find Ma." 

Among the vivid reminiscences of Harriet's early child- 
hood were her visits to her grandmother Foote at Nutplains. 
She wrote : 

" I think, in the recollections of all the children, our hours 
spent at Nutplains were the golden hours of our life. Aunt Har- 
riet had precisely the turn which made her treasure every scrap 
of a family relic and history. And even those of the family who 
had passed away forever seemed still to be living at Nutplains, so 
did she cherish every memorial, and recall every action and word. 
There was Aunt Catharine's embroidery ; there Aunt Mary's 
paintings and letters ; there the things which Uncle Samuel had 
brought from foreign shores ; frankincense from Spain, mats and 
baskets from Mogadore, and various other trophies locked in 
drawers, which Aunt Harriet displayed to us on every visit. 

" At Nutplains our mother, lost to us, seemed to live again. 
We saw her paintings, her needle-work, and heard a thousand lit- 
tle sayings and doings of her daily life. And so dear was every- 
thing that belonged to grandmother and our Nutplains home, that 
the Episcopal service, even though not well read, was always 



20 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

chosen during our visits there in preference to our own. It 
seemed a part of Nutplains and of the life there. 

" There was also an interesting and well-selected library, and a 
portfolio of fine engravings ; and, though the place was lonely, 
yet the cheerful hospitality that reigned there left them scarcely 
ever without agreeable visitors ; and some of the most charming 
recollections of my childhood are of a beautiful young lady, who 
used to play at chess with Uncle George when he returned from 
his work in the wood-lot of a winter evening. 

" The earliest poetry that I ever heard were the ballads of 
Walter Scott, which Uncle George repeated to Cousin Mary and 
me the first winter that I was there. The story of the black and 
white huntsman made an impression on me that I shall never for- 
get. His mind was so steeped in poetical literature that he could 
at any time complete any passage in Burns or Scott from memory. 
As for graver reading, there was Rees's Cyclopedia, in which I 
suppose he had read every article, and which was often taken 
down when I became old enough to ask questions, and passages 
pointed out in it for my reading. 

" All these remembrances may explain why the lonely little 
white farm-house under the hill was such a Paradise to us, and the 
sight of its chimneys after a day's ride was like a vision of Eden. 
In later years, returning there, I have been surprised to find that 
the hills around were so bleak and the land so barren ; that the 
little stream near by had so few charms to uninitiated eyes. To 
us, every juniper bush, every wild sweetbrier, every barren sandy 
hillside, every stony pasture, spoke of bright hours of love, when 
we were welcomed back to Nutplains as to our mother's heart." 

The first event that followed in the year of the great 
family sorrow, was the removal of Grandma Beecher and 
Aunt Esther to the parsonage at Litchfield to take charge of 
the family. Grandma Beecher was a fine specimen of the 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 21 

Puritan character of the strictest pattern. She was however 
naturally kind, generous and sympathizing, and had a special 
fondness for animals. She was the perfection of neatness and 
order ; but her love for her motherless grandchildren 
opened the door of her room to them, and little Harriet 
was her favorite. Her stock of family traditions and 
neighborhood lore was wonderful, and among her precious 
books were chiefly, the Bible and Prayer-book. Lowth's 
Isaiah, she knew almost by heart ; Buchanan's Researches 
in Asia, Bishop Heber's Life, and Dr. Johnson's Works, were 
also great favorites with her. These books her grandchil- 
dren were called upon to read, while at frequent intervals 
she explained passages. Under the regime of honest, con- 
scientious Aunt Esther, the family lived on comfortably 
for a year, when a new mother came to govern and guide at 
the parsonage. 

She was a Miss Harriet Porter, of Portland, Maine, a lady 
of gentle birth and personal accomplishments, whom Lyman 
Beecher had met upon one of his professional visits to a 
brother pastor. Harriet Beecher's first impression of her 
was of a beautiful lady, very fair, with bright blue eyes and 
soft auburn hair, who came into the nursery where Harriet 
slept with her two younger brothers, with an eager, affec- 
tionate smile, kissed them and told them that she loved 
little children and would be their mother. They wanted 
forthwith to get up and be dressed, but they were pacified 
with a promise that she would be there in the morning. 
Probably never did step-mother make a prettier or sweeter 
impression. The Beechers were noisy, red-cheeked, hearty 
country children, and they looked at the delicate, elegant 
lady whom their father had brought home, with awe. She 



22 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

seemed rather like a strange princess, than their own 
mamma; her ways of speaking and moving were very 
graceful; she was peculiarly dainty and neat in her per- 
sonal appearance and belongings ; she had beautiful white 
hands, adorned with handsome rings, and Harriet used at 
first to feel breezy and rough in her presence. 

While Harriet worshipped her with a childish devotion, 
it appears that she at least once, was stung with a momen- 
tary jealousy of her high place in her father's affections, 
and the little girl poutingly said, to the great amusement 
of every one : "Because you have come and married my 
Pa, when I am big enough, I mean to go and marry your 
Pa." But the feeling was fleeting, instantly superceded 
by the love which endured during their life together. 

But, as transpired, the second Mrs. Beecher's nature and 
habits were too refined and exacting for the bringing up of 
so many children of great animal force and vigor, under 
the pressure of straitened circumstances. She became the 
mother of four children, who were Isabella, Thomas, a babe 
who died, and James, but to the last had little sympath}' 
with the ordinary feelings of childhood. Mrs. Stowe 
has said of her religious training of the little ones, 
with whom she spent an hour of intense and positive 
exhortation and prayer every Sunday night : " She gave 
an impression of religion as being like herself, calm, sol- 
emn, inflexible, mysteriously sad and rigorously exacting." 
Lyman Beecher used to declare that his second wife, who 
was converted from a lighthearted petted beauty into a 
serious Christian of extreme severity, adopted her minis- 
ter's dyspepsia at the same time she did his Calvinism ! 

In these early years were made those impressions of the 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 23 

old meeting house in which her father preached, so graphi- 
cally described by Mrs. Stowe in one of her sketches : — 

" To my childish eye, our old meeting house was an awe-inspir- 
ing thing. To me it seemed fashioned very nearly on the model 
of Noah's Ark and Solomon's Temple as set forth in the pictures 
in my Scripture Catechism — pictures which I did not doubt were 
authentic copies ; and what more venerable architectural prece- 
dent could one desire ? 

" Its double row of windows, of which I knew the number by 
heart ; its door, with great wooden quirls over them ; its belfry 
projecting out at the east end; its steeple and bell, all inspired as 
much sense of the sublime in me as Strasbourg Cathedral itself; 
and the inside was not a whit the less imposing. 

" How magnificent to my eye seemed the turnip-like canopy 
that hung over the minister's head hooked by a long iron rod to 
the wall above, and how apprehensively did I consider the ques- 
tion what would become of him if it should fall? How did I 
wonder at the panels on either side of the pulpit in each of which 
was carved and painted a flaming red tulip with its leaves pro- 
jecting out at right angles! And then at the grape-vine in bas- 
relief on the front with exactly triangular leaves. The area of 
the house was divided into large square pews, boxed up with stout 
boards, and surmounted with a kind of baluster work which I sup- 
posed to be provided for the special accommodation of us young- 
sters, being the 'loop-holes of retreat' through which we gazed 
upon the ' remarkabilia ' of the scene." 

In the same article appears a description of the singer's 
seat, which is only equalled by Washington Irvi rig's in- 
imitable word picture of the choir in the loft of the little 
church at Bracebridge Hall. 

"Bui the glory of our meeting-house was its singer's seat, that 



24 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

empyrean of those who rejoiced in the mysterious art of fa-sol-la- 
ing. There they sat in the gallery that lined three sides of the 
house ; treble, counter, tenor and bass, each with its appropriate 
leader and supporters. There were generally seated the bloom of 
our young people, sparkling, modest and blushing girls on one 
side, with their ribbons and finery making the place as blooming 
and lovely as a flower garden ; and the fiery, forward and con- 
fident young men on the other. 

" But I have been talking of singers all the time and have neg- 
lected to mention the Magnus Apollo of the whole concern who 
occupied the seat of honor in the midst of the second gallery, and 
exactly opposite to the minister. With what an air did he sound 
the important fa-sol-la in the ears of the waiting gallery, who 
stood with open mouths ready to give the pitch preparatory to the 
general set to. How did his ascending and descending arm aston- 
ish the zephyrs when once he laid himself out to the important 
work of beating time. 

" But the glory of his art consisted in the execution of those 
good old billowy compositions called fuguing tunes, where the four 
parts that compose the choir take up the song, and go racing 
around one after the other, each singing a different set of words, 
till at length by some inexplicable magic, they all come together 
again and sail smoothly out into a rolling sea of harmony ! 

" I remember the wonder with which I used to look from side to 
side when treble, tenor, counter and bass were thus roaring and 
foaming, and it verily seemed to me as if the psalm were going to 
pieces in the breakers ; and the delighted astonishment with which 
I found that each particular verse did emerge whole and uninjured 
from the storm." 

The girl was mother to the woman, whose keen observa- 
tions and discriptive powers were of a remarkable order, 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 25 

and whose sympathy for the suffering and oppressed rose 
into the sublime eloquence of her great book. 

An older sister thus describes an incident which displays 
the affection of the child for her pets, and the earnestness 
with which she paid to one, her tribute of sympathy and 
regret. 

" There was a very old yellow cat in the house in Litchfield, to 
which my father moved when I was about five years old, and in 
which Harriet was born. Tom, for that was his name, must have 
been an old cat at that time, and when Harriet was about eight, it 
was evident that he was about to die. Harriet came to her step- 
mother one morning and said, poor old Tom is lying on the bank 
all alone, and he's going to die, and I can't bear to have him die 
alone, mayn't I stay at home and sit with him ? Her step-mother 
gave her leave, so the little girl gave the old pussy company and 
comfort for the little of his life which was left. 

" The other children appear to have been so excited by this de- 
votion of hers that they made a funeral for Tom. at which her 
sister Catherine read an epitaph which Harriet with the ' sweet in- 
vocation of a child ; most pretty and pathetical,' had implored her 
to write." 

From the same pen we receive another reminiscence, 
which further illustrates her instinctive fondness for cats, 
which with other animals were always her pets, and fre- 
quently mentioned in her writings. 

'* Harriet was very fond of reading the Arabian Knights, which 
she found at her grandmother's house, at Nutplains. It happened 
that a stray cat attached itself to the grandmother, who took no 
fancy to it, and rejected its affectionate attentions. This grieved 
the little girl, who conceived the idea that the cat was really the 
old lady's daughter, who had lost her human form, by some magic 



26 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

art, and was hopelessly trying to make her love known to her 
mother. She, remembering how those magic spells were broken, 
in her favorite book, used to take her opportunity in private, and 
throw water over the poor cat, — saying, ' If this is thy natural 
form, retain it, if not, resume the form of a woman.' But the im- 
prisoned daughter was never set free." 

Another cat story is worth reproducing here, having a 
special interest, as it was doubtless Mrs. Stowe's last contri- 
bution to the press. It was given by her to the writer who 
was then editing the City Mission Record of Hartford, Conn., 
for publication in that magazine, of Feb., 1888. 

" When I was eight years of age I had a favorite cat, of whom 
I was very fond. Puss was attacked with fits, and in her parox- 
ysms flew round the top of the wall, jumped onto our heads and 
scratched and tumbled up our hair in a frightful way. My father 
shot her, and when she was cold and dead my former fondness re- 
turned. I wrapped her nicely in a cloth and got my brother to 
dig a grave and set up a flat stone for a monument. Then I went 
to my older sister, Catherine, and asked her to write me an 
" epithet " (epitaph) to put on the stone. 

She wrote : 

Here lies poor Kit 
Who had a fit 
And acted queer ; 
Killed with a gun 
Her race is run, 
And she lies here. 

I pasted this upon the stone and was comforted." 

Harriet Beecher grew into girlhood a hearty, rosy, strong 
child, with flying curls of sunny brown, and sweet, keen 
blue eyes, always ready for fun and play ; a happy frolicsome 
creature, rejoicing in this life, yet already weighted with the 
prospect of the life which is to come — a subject which in 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 27 

all its theological bearings was never ignored or neglected 
in that hill-top parsonage. She says of herself,—"! was 
educated first and foremost by Nature, wonderful, beautiful, 
ever changing as she is in that cloud-land, Litchfield." 

She ran wild among the trees and hills. She heard with 
rapture the pipe and trilling of the birds ; she made friendly 
acquaintance with the small game aflight or afoot in the 
fields; she followed winding streams to their source; she 
sailed boats; listened to the rippling of the water over the 
bright shallows ; watched the sunlight in the shimmering 
depths of the deep pools, or the shining fish which darted 
out of sight or lazily floated in the sun. She gathered the 
first sweet wildlings of the spring; had her secret places 
where luscious strawberries, equally gratifying to the aes- 
thetic and gustatory sense nodded upon their stems; 
gathered gorgeous lilies and blazing poppies and the blue 
corn flower in the hay- field in the quivering heart of June, 
and went nutting in the delicious haze and leafy brilliance 
of October. There was nothing foreign or unknown to her 
in the kindly fruitage of the earth ; and she learned, close 
to Nature's heart, those unspeakable lessons which she 
whispers to her devout children. 

But coming from what Oliver Wendell Holmes has 
termed " the Brahmin class of New England," whose 
instinctive refinement of feeling and natural aptitude for 
learning seem, to use the genial doctor's own words, 
" hereditary and congenital," Harriet Beecher early promised 
to be a scholar. When she was five years of age, she had 
been to school, learning to read very fluently, and having 
a retentive memory, had committed twenty-seven hymns 
and two long chapters in the Bible. 



28 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Her eagerness to read, which grew and increased with 
every year of her life, was constantly stimulated by the 
bracing intellectual atmosphere of her home, which as we 
have seen, was characterized by an unusual degree of activ- 
ity. The light literature, which now floods every house- 
hold, was a thing unknown, and after revelling in the Ara- 
bian Knights, she used to spend hours in the attic, desper- 
ately searching among the sermons, treatises, tracts, and 
essays, which she surreptitiously dragged from a barrel, for 
fresh food for her active mind. Once turning up a dis- 
sertation on Solomon's Song, she devoured it with a relish, 
as it told of the same sort of things she read of in the in- 
exhaustible tales of her beloved Scherherazade. She was 
at another time rewarded for several hours toil in what she 
called, " a weltering ocean of pamphlets," by bringing to 
light a fragment of " Don Quixote," which was fraught 
with enchantment and read with a frantic disregard of the 
possible objection of her parents. .At this time the names 
of Scott, Byron, Moore, and Irving, were comparatively 
new. The " Salmagundi Papers " were recent publications 
though making a literary sensation among intelligent peo- 
ple. Byron had not quite finished his course, and Aunt 
Esther, a woman of strong mind, ready wit, and the best 
of critical perceptions, one day gave to Harriet a volume 
of his works, containing " The Corsair." This she read 
with wonder and delight, and thenceforth listened eagerly 
to whatever was said in the house concerning Byron. Not 
long after, she heard her father sorrowfully observe, " Byron is 
dead, — gone." She says, " I remember taking my basket 
for strawberries that afternoon and going over to a field on 
Chestnut hill. But I was too dispirited to do anything ; 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 29 

so I lay down among the daisies, and looked up into the 
blue sky, and thought of that great eternity into which 
Byron had entered, and wondered how it might be with his 
,soul." 

Harriet Beecher was then a child of eleven, but was 
sufficiently precocious to appreciate the genius in Byron's 
passionate poetry and to share the enthusiasm which his 
works had everywhere created. 

Scott had written his best poems, and " The Lay of the 
Last Minstrel," and " Marmion," were familiar to the 
Beecher household, as to intelligent people the world over, 
but a novel, was regarded by most pious people as a thing 
detrimental, if not unclean, having become so generally 
depreciated in the hands of the writers of the previous 
generation. 

"The Tales of my Landlord," and "Ivanhoe," had just 
made their appearance, and great was the joy of the house- 
hold when Dr. Beecher, after careful perusal of one or two 
of them, gave his son George permission to read Scott's 
novels. In the summer, Harriet and George, who was a 
year or two her senior, read " Ivanhoe " seven times, and 
learned many of the scenes so that they could recite them 
from beginning to end, rehearsing them as dialogues each 
assuming several characters in the most versatile man- 
ner, suiting voice and action to the words, in a style which 
they deemed dramatically effective. 

One of the events of the year in the parsonage at Litch- 
field was the apple cutting, when a barrel of cider apple 
sauce was to be made and the boys and girls were pressed 
into service as assistants. The work was done in the 
kitchen, an immense shining brass kettle hanging over the 



30 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

fire in the deep chimney, and the whole family of children 
and servants, gathered around, employed on the great 
baskets of apples and quinces. Dr. Beecher presided at the 
apple peeler, turning the crank with great expedition, and 
one evening said to George, " Come, I'll tell you what we'll 
do to make the evening go off. You and I'll take turns 
and see who'll tell the most out of Scott's novels." So 
they took them, novel by novel, reciting scenes and inci- 
dents, which kept the children wide-awake, and made their 
work fly, while Harriet often made a correction, or supplied 
with joyful eagerness, some point they had omitted. 

Before Harriet could write, she had printed many of 
these and other stories from memory, making little books 
which her sisters sewed together, and often used to enter- 
tain her little brothers, Henry and Charles, by reading to 
them portions which she had reproduced almost verbatim. 
Henry Ward Beecher has said that a verbal memory such 
as hers, would have doubled his powers. She shared the 
bed in the nursery with these two little fellows, and her older 
sister recalls often hearing her adapt condensations of her 
reading to their comprehension. She used to lay flat upon 
the floor, poring over the great family Bible, committing 
entire chapters to memory. She studied Paradise Lost in 
the same manner. 

Dr. Beecher constantly encouraged his children to intel- 
lectual joustings. In the words of Charles Beecher : 

" The law of his family was that, if any one had a good thing, 
he must not keep it to himself; if he could say a funny thing, he 
was bound to say it ; if a severe thing, no matter — the severer 
the better, if well put ; every one must be ready to take as well 
as give. The Doctor never asked any favors of his children, nor 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 31 

stood upon his dignity, in encounters of wit or logic. "When they 
grappled him, he taught them to grapple in earnest, and they 
well knew what they had to expect in return." 

The conditions of young Harriet Beecher's early school 
life were particularly favorable to sound learning and 
thorough culture. There were situated in Litchfield at the 
time, the best school in Connecticut. Nominally under the 
direction of Miss Sarah Pierce, a well educated and superior 
woman, its real head and moving spirit was her nephew, 
John Pierce Brace, a teacher who left his impress upon 
many now celebrated minds, and, afterwards became 
famous as the principal of the highly reputed Hartford 
Female Seminary. No teacher can have better " educated " 
his pupils in the true sense of the word. While not a 
martinet or drill master, in the modern sense of the term, 
he yet possessed a subtle intelligence in reaching the in- 
tellect of his scholars, an instinct for all that was best in 
them, and an appreciation of their individual tastes and 
mental bias, which was as rare, as it was an enviable quality. 
The Academy in Litchfield became one of those pure wells 
from which the hidden strength of New England character 
was drawn. Pupils had gathered to it from as far as 
Boston. There were one hundred students about equally 
divided between bovs and girls. There was a class of 
young men preparing for college, and the greater number 
of the boys had the same ultimate object. The girls however 
had no restrictions as to their course, except such as were the 
result of personal preference, and this clear-headed daughter 
of Dr. Lyman Beecher took up the classics and higher 
mathematics with her brothers. Mr. Brace was always 
stimulating the girls to such undertakings and felt a special 



32 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

pride in this alert, fun-loving child. She held a natural 
admiration for the doubtful works of art which came under 
the supervision of Miss Titcomb, and possessed of a fair 
proficiency in reproducing the embroidery and feminine 
accomplishments of the Hannah More and Johnsonian 
school. These consisted mostly of mourning pieces, with 
the family monument in the centre, a weeping willow 
drooping sadly over a black robed woman, whose face was 
invariably covered with a pocket handkerchief, and pastoral 
scenes, with fair shepherdesses sitting on green chenille 
banks, tending bunchy animals of uncertain species, which 
were by faith received as sheep. But she had a stronger 
predilection for book lore, and pursued her Latin and Greek 
verses with the same persistency and disposition to win, 
that she followed a bee to its lair or sought the first sweet 
blossoms of the spring in the cool wet nooks under the 
forest leaves. 

The fact was John P. Brace during his early life had been 
a sailor, and in the ports of the Mediterranean and the 
churches of Spain and Italy, had seen the old masters, 
knew what Murillos and Titians were like, and glanced 
with scarcely concealed amusement at the marvelous ar- 
tistic productions, then held in such reverence by New 
England housewives. Cicero and Ovid, Greek authors, 
Shakespeare, Milton, Johnson, Bacon, Spenser, Goldsmith 
and Dryden, geography, history, rhetoric and higher mathe- 
matics, were the daily exercise and recitation of his pupils. 
Mr. Brace was accused of using his teachings as a mental 
gratification for himself. If there was a subject he 
wanted to investigate, a classic author that he wanted to 
unearth, or a knotty point to unravel, he would put a class 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 33 

upon it and come out with scorn upon any poor body so 
bound down by routine as to suggest that it had nothing to 
do with, the coming college examinations. Mr. Brace was 
sparing of praise, took delight in puzzling his pupils and 
setting all their faculties at work by unexpected questions, 
and could not endure the mechanical methods which then 
obtained, and have not even now, become desirably obso- 
lete in schools. He understood perfectly that mere cram- 
ming of the memory with facts was not education, and 
realized that to fit the intellects under his charge to grasp a 
new question, to view it from all standpoints and judge 
accurately of its merits, was better than to pack away much 
undigested learning, upon the shelves of the mental store- 
house. He used to say — " Learn to use your own heads 
and you can learn anything." And " Learn to read Greek 
perfectly, and it's no matter what you read." 

As may be imagined, there was little idling or shirking 
in a school conducted on such principles, and the result of 
his training has been shown in the lives of his pupils, many 
of whom became prominent and luminous in the intellect- 
ual history of New England. 

"When Harriet was very young, her own simple lessons 
were neglected and forgotten as she sat listening intently, 
hour after hour, to the conversations of Mr. Brace with his 
older classes upon moral philosophy, history and rhetoric. 
Particular attention was given in this school to the writing 
of compositions. Harriet was but nine years old when 
roused by the inspiration of her teacher, she volunteered to 
write one every week. One of the first themes given was 
"The Difference between the Natural and the Moral Sub- 
lime," a subject sufficiently formidable to have appalled 
3 



34 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

many an older pupil ; but she found herself laboring with 
the subject, felt sure that she could make some clear distinc- 
tions, and before she could write legibly or spell correctly, 
brought forth her first composition, upon this ponderous 
theme, receiving judicious praise. Two years later she 
received the appointment to furnish one of the articles 
to be read at the closing exhibition and took the 
negative of the following question :— " Can the Immortal- 
ity of the Soul be proved by the Light of Nature." This 
argument was read before the literati of Litchfield who 
crowded the town hall upon that distinguished occasion, 
and so interested Dr. Lyman Beecher, who knew nothing 
of the effort, that at the close he said to Mr. Brace, " Who 
wrote that composition? " " Your daughter, sir," was the 
the answer, which plainly filled the father with pleased 
surprise, and Harriet has said, it was the proudest moment 
of her life. 

Most favorably supplementing the advantages of inher- 
ited character, home and school influences, and educa- 
tion, was the social environment, the high literary and his- 
torical atmosphere, which pervaded the society which 
recognized the Beecher's as among their most capable 
leaders and inspirers. Few country towns in our land have 
so beautifully diversified topographical features as Litch- 
field, Connecticut, and still rarer are the localities, which 
have so many interesting incidents and associations, patri- 
otic, literary and religious, connected with their history. 
The home of the Beechers was upon a wide and breezy 
hill, from which can still be seen a long stretch of charac- 
teristic New England scenery. Distinguished people made 
their home in this picturesque township, near the centre of 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 35 

the county, and Lyman Beecher preached in the meeting 
house of the Congregational Society to persons whose careers 
have made them famous in history. There was Ethan 
Allen, a native of Litchfield, whose professed infidelity did 
not prevent his honest admiration for Lyman Beecher 
whose church he regularly attended. There was the 
gallant Colonel Tallmage, of Herculean frame and a face 
like Washington's, who once rode three miles with a defence- 
less girl behind him on horseback, carrying her to a place 
of safety. There was Gov. Oliver Wolcott, a member of 
Washington's cabinet; Hon. John Allen, a member of 
Congress celebrated for his uncommon stature, being nearly 
seven feet high and large in proportion; Hon. Frederick 
Wolcott, a distinguished lawyer; Hon. Uriel Holmes, a 
lawyer of note, member of Congress and Judge of the 
County Court ; John Pierpont, the poet, and Dr. Sheldon, 
one of the most celebrated physicians in the State. Most 
intimate in his relations with the family, was Judge Eeeves, 
who was for over a half a century a citizen of Litchfield, 
and founder of the celebrated Law School, which for forty 
years was sought by young men of talent, from nearly every 
state in the union. Judge Eeeves was distinguished for his 
piety and interest in all benevolent operations, as much as 
for his learning. In him, Dr. Beecher found a kindred 
spirit, and one who stood nearer to him than any other, in 
Christian intimacy. His first wife was a grand-daughter of 
President Johnathan Edwards, and a sister of Aaron Burr, 
who for six years made Litchfield his home. The influence 
and lasting impress of these associations upon the girl, is 
to be easily traced in the work of the woman who became 
America's greatest reformer. 



36 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

It was fashionable in Litchfield to take long walks to the 
hill tops to see the gorgeous sunsets, to make observations 
of the constellations which starred the heavens by night, and 
watch the changing phases of the moon, with an astronomical 
enthusiasm quite apart from the sentimental observations, 
peculiar doubtless then, as now, to young lovers. Tea 
parties were then as now social occasions, but varying 
from what has been cleverly characterized as the " creme 
de la creme uneventfulness " of the four o'clock receptions 
of the present day, in a manner reflecting most favorably 
upon the intelligence of that time. 

It was the rule to discuss the current literature of the 
day, the last articles in the English Ee views, the latest 
Waverly novel, the poetty of Scott, Burns, Byron, Southey, 
Moore and Wordsworth. 

Frequently one of the learned Judges, who was an admir- 
able talker, would hold the attention of the drawing-room, 
while he ran a parallel between the dramatic handling of 
Scott's characters as compared with Shakespeare, or gave 
an analysis of the principles of the Lake School of poetry. 
The students in the law offices and school, and the young 
ladies of the best families, had reading circles and literary 
partialities, and there was much polished allusion and 
quotation and spouting of poetry, and some youths who 
tied their open shirt collars with black ribbon after the 
fashion of Byron, and professed disgust at the hollow state 
of human happiness in general. Compassionate young 
ladies found them all the more interesting, for this state 
of mysterious desolation, and tried with surprising suc- 
cess to console them. Frequently, literature was forgot- 
ten in the intense interest in politics; and one evening 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 37 

when enough had come to light to make it apparent 
that the state of Connecticut had gone over from the Fed- 
eralists to the Democrats, the triumph of the lower orders, the 
reign of " sans-culottism," was felt to have begun, and the 
prediction, by a social magnate, that they were all dwelling 
over a volcano which would burst and destroy all their 
institutions, was heard with fear by Harriet Beecher, who 
was yet a little comforted to observe that the judge selected 
a particularly choice piece of cake, and took a third cup of 
tea with much calmness in the very midst of these shock- 
ing prognostications. 



CHAPTER II. 

HARRIET BEECHER GOES TO HARTFORD TO SCHOOL. SHE 
BECOMES ASSISTANT PUPIL IN THE HARTFORD FEMALE 
SEMINARY. HER PERSONALITY AS A YOUNG WOMAN. 
REMOVAL TO CINCINNATI WITH HER FAMILY IN 1832. 
THE SEMICOLON CLUB. LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS. PRIZE 
STORY, " UNCLE LOT," WRITTEN FOR THAT CLUB AT THE 
AGE OF TWENTY-TWO. HER MARRIAGE TO PROFESSOR 
CALVIN E. STOWE TWO YEARS LATER. MATERNITY, AND 
A NARROW ESCAPE FROM DEATH BY CHOLERA IN THE 
EPIDEMIC OF 1845. PUBLICATION OF " THE MAYFLOWER " 
IN 1846. REVIEW OF "UNCLE LOT " AND OTHER SKETCHES. 
THE SLAVERY QUESTION BECOMES A BURNING ISSUE. 

A change of base was coming for little Harriet Beecher, 
not yet in her early teens. Catherine, the oldest of the 
family, then a thoroughly educated, intellectual and digni- 
fied voung lady, was engaged to marry Professor Alexan- 
der M. Fisher, of Yale College; a man already distinguished, 
and of great promise in his profession. He started for 
Europe in April, 1822, where he purposed to study and 
travel for a year before his marriage. The ship Albion, in 
which he sailed, was lost, and only one of all its passengers 
and crew, came back to tell the tale. The brilliant girl, 
lately so fall of joy and hope, lost heart in everything in 
life, and fell into a sort of rebellious melancholy, from 
38 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 39 

which it seemed for a time that even her helpful spirit and 
practical education, could not rescue her. 

With the lapse of time she rallied somewhat, but felt 
that she must fly from the scenes which spoke so con- 
stantly and eloquently of her lover and her lost hope, and 
seek relief from crushing thought, in active work. She 
went to Hartford, Connecticut, and with the assistance of 
her younger sister Mary, afterwards Mrs. Thomas C. Per- 
kins, she opened a school for girls, which became famous 
and was known under the name which it still preserves, of 
the Hartford Female Seminary. This school, which was 
in a way a successor to one kept by Lydia Maria Huntley, 
afterwards Mrs. Sigourney, was soon standing on a par 
with those of Mrs. Willard at Watertown and Troy, New 
York, and Miss Lyon's and Miss Grant's academy at 
Ipswich. Their brother, Edward, then at the head of 
the Hartford Latin School, boarded with his sisters in the 
household over which Aunt Esther Beecher presided. The 
•older members of this family, were even then coming to be 
famous for their intellectual force and scholarly attain- 
ments, attracting to them the best of the cultured society 
of the town. Harriet was confided to her sister's care, and, 
leaving all the freedom and varied joys of child life in the 
country, she settled seriously to work and remained at 
Hartford six years. During the latter part of the time she 
became an assistant pupil, teaching Latin and translating 
Virgil into English heroic verse, mingling her teaching, 
studies and social diversions in the most delightful and 
profitable manner. 

While Harriet was not thought, by any means, the equal 
of her elder sister in mental weight and power, and of a rather 



40 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

careless and unpractical turn of mind, she was amiable and 
endearing in her ways, and was recognized as a decidedly 
clever young lady, of rare sincerity and plainness in speech, 
with a vein of humor and a sleepy sort of wit, which 
flashed out in the most unexpected manner. ISTo seer per- 
ceived above the ringleted head of the absent-minded 
young teacher, a dark attendant spirit, benignant yet 
mournful, " poor, grand, old world- wept, polyglotted Uncle 
Tom," the brightness of whose character will forever illu- 
mine her name ; but the pupils, who in after years recalled 
with pride their acquaintance with Harriet Beecher, 
never remembered aught of her that was not generous and 
kind. 

Goethe has said that much may be known of a person's 
character by observing what things excite his laughter. 
Though Harriet Beecher's sense of the ludicrous was keen 
practical joking was not to her taste. No strange or amusing 
combination of happenings could excite her mirth, if thereby, 
another was made uncomfortable. She was richly pos- 
sessed of humor — that charming faculty which enables one 
to be amusing without a sting ; the quick perception of the 
ludicrous in life, which is so expressed as to leave no 
smart behind. The difference between wit and humor has 
been cleverly denned by George W. Bungay. He says : 
" Wit laughs at everybody; humor laughs with everybody." 
Harriet Beecher began in her earliest childhood to laugh 
with everybody with most enviable good nature and it was 
only upon rare provocation, that she exercised her power of 
trenchant repartee. 

In 1826, after long and anxious self examination, Dr. 
Lyman Beecher came to the conclusion that he had no 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 41 

longer a right to live in debt, for want of a sufficient salary. 
He was the father of eleven children, and the problem of 
educating, feeding and clothing the large family who 
remained upon his hands, was a dark one. Eight hundred 
dollars a year, had it been promptly paid, which was not 
usually the case, was not a princely income. Many of the 
ministers of that time in New England were forced to eke 
out the small salary given them, by farming on week days, by 
writing school or religious books, or even by taking agencies 
and selling popular articles. Dr. Beecher's sense of dignity 
and clerical duty would not permit this, and without con- 
sulting any one, he resolved to leave Litchfield as soon as 
he could find a more remunerative parish. By a singular 
co-incidence, in twelve hours after this decision was 
reached, a letter arrived, inviting him to the Hanover 
Street Church, of Boston. Here for six years he waged an 
earnest war for Orthodoxy against Unitarianism, preaching 
upon various themes in so trenchant and powerful a man- 
ner that his fame spread all over the land. His Boston 
career was the acme of his life. 

Dr. Beech er united the logical faculty with the imagina- 
tive and the emotional, in a very high degree. His preach- 
ing, as has been said of another, was logic on fire. He 
preached the fundamentals of Christian doctrine, and not 
the philosophies or the nice distinctions of the schools ; 
and he preached them in a light so clear and convincing, 
with convictions so irresistible, with appeals so fervid, and 
with such persuasive attraction, that his ministry in Boston 
and elsewhere, was one of singular power and success. He 
likewise took a prominent part in the famous theological 
and ecclesiastical controversy which agitated New England 



42 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

and several branches of the Church, and which resulted in 
the division of the Presbyterian Church in 1837, and of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844. 

Slavery as well as doctrinal differences, entered largely into 
this fierce conflict. Lyman Beecher was a man of great origi- 
nality, boldness and robustness of character, openly and vehe- 
mently denouncing intemperance, dueling, and other social 
evils of the times. His six sermons against intemperance, 
prepared and preached while at Litchfield, were a trumpet 
blast that shook the world and produced a prodigious excite- 
ment and impression everywhere. Although among the first 
to speak and write on the subject, those sermons on the evil 
and guilt of drunkenness, in the matter of argument, fact, in- 
vective and appeal, have not been surpassed in the whole his- 
tory of temperance literature. He was withal a profound 
student of theology, and was selected by the voice of the 
Church to establish a Theological school for the training of 
men for the ministry in the great and rapidly growing West, 
where for twenty years he did grand service. He was 
called to a professorship, and later the presidency of Lane 
Seminary, Cincinnati, in 1832, and the whole family fol- 
lowed him. Catherine and Mary Beecher resigned their 
school in Hartford to the able management of John P. 
Brace, under whose teaching they had been, and following 
whose precepts given them years before, they had made it 
a gratifying success, who carried it on for twelve years 
after their departure. Mary having married, Catherine and 
Harriet, together founded a school, in Cincinnati. 

For several years following, the social life of Harriet 
Beecher was of the most stimulating and beneficial kind. 
The intelligence, and general culture, which pervaded the 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 43 

atmosphere about the region at Walnut Hills, upon a high 
point of which stood the Seminary; the charming associa- 
tions which embraced the professors, their wives and 
families, theological students and visiting graduates; the 
transition to the broader life of the then far West, which 
enabled her to look back upon New England life and 
customs with a discriminating eye ; and the inspiring con- 
versation and inquiries which called forth description and 
opinions, all tended to cultivation, and freedom of thought 
and expression. 

The literary guild into which Harriet Beecher was hap- 
pily drawn, had no little influence in awakening in her a 
consciousness of her powers, and furnished opportunities and 
encouragement in the exercise of those faculties which have 
made her famous. Out of the sympathy and good fellow- 
ship of many of the men and women of that vicinity, 
there grew a desire to associate themselves in literary work, 
and a series of social reunions were established, under the 
name of " The Semi-colon Club." 

At these meetings, essays, sketches, reviews, stories and 
poems were read, and discussions and conversations carried 
on, enlivened and diversified with music. Among the 
people who participated in the meetings who have since 
become distinguished, maybe mentioned Judge Hall, editor 
of " The Western Monthly Magazine," Miss Catherine 
Beecher, Professor Hentz, and his graceful and accom- 
plished wife, Caroline Lee Hentz, a novelist of popularity : 1\ 
P. Cranch, the humorist, whose delicious fancies flowed with 
equal ease into word pictures or pencil drawings, Charles 
W. Eliot, the New England historian, three Misses Black- 
well, two of whom have gained distinction as physicians, 



44 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Professor Calvin E. Stowe, then already widely known in 
Europe and America as a scholar and author, and Professor, 
subsequently General, 0. M. Mitchell, whom the nation re- 
members as one of its most accomplished scientific men, 
and mourns as one of the noblest martyrs in the cause of 
liberty. 

In this brilliant circle, Harriet Beecher's genius soon 
began to shine conspicuously, and her articles descriptive of 
the peculiarities of New England life and character, were 
met with tremendous applause. One called " Uncle Lot," 
written for the Semi-colon Club in 1834, made the greatest 
impression, and when Judge Hall offered fifty dollars 
for the best story for his magazine, and Harriet Beecher 
having revised the sketch sent it to the judges, she received 
the prize — an accession to her private funds, which was by 
no means to be despised. She became an occasional con- 
tributor to the Western Monthly Magazine, and to Godey's 
Lady's Book, writing a number of sketches which made a 
favorable impression, drawing her out of the immediate 
circle of inspiring and enthusiastic friends into the wider 
criticism and approval of the reading world in American 
cities and towns. These sketches will be noticed later on in 
the discussion of their publication in book form, under the 
name of "The Mayflower." 

Among the intimate friends of Harriet Beecher, at this 
period, was Eliza Tyler, the daughter of Eev. Dr. Tyler, of 
Andover, Mass., the wife of Calvin E. Stowe, the scholarly 
professor of Biblical Criticism and Oriental Literature in 
Lane Seminary. Mrs. Stowe was several years older than 
her chosen friend, Harriet Beecher, but found in her ener- 
getic mind and brisk manners, the natural complement to her 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 45 

own gentle personality, which was somewhat depressed by 
a delicate physique. 

Mrs. Stowe died during the first year which her husband 
spent in his capacity of Professor at Lane, and his intimate 
acquaintance and regard for the daughter of President 
Lyman Beecher, was augmented and deepened during the 
next three years, at the end of which they were married. 
Harriet Beecher was twenty-four years of age when she 
became the wife of a man in every way fitted to guide her 
in the life work which yet lay folded in the veil of the 
future. He was nine years her senior, a man of fine 
presence, a graduate of Bowcloin College and of the 
Andover Theological Seminary, where he became assistant 
professor of sacred literature, and later, had been professor of 
languages in Dartmouth. In 1833 he was chosen professor 
of Biblical literature at Lane Seminary, and remained in 
that chair seventeen years. During the year of his marriage 
he spent several months in Europe in behalf of the Legisla- 
ture of the State of Ohio, studying the public school system 
of Europe, particularly that of Germany. He prepared a 
valuable public document on u Elementary Education in 
Europe," and other papers treating of the Prussian school 
system. These were reprinted from the Ohio state docu- 
ments by Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, North 
Carolina and Virginia, and were circulated through those 
states, free. His conclusions were the key-note for much of 
the educational work in the United States. This, however, 
was by no means his first achievement in literature. He 
had been editor of the Boston Recorder, afterwards merged 
into The Congregationalist, immediately after his gradua- 
tion at Andover, and had contributed liberally to many 



46 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

leading periodicals of the day. While at Andover as 
assistant professor of Sacred Literature, he translated Jahn's 
"History of the Hebrew Commonwealth," which was pub- 
lished at Andover and in London. His " Lectures on the 
Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews," were of the same period. 
He published one volume of "An Introduction to the 
Criticism and Interpretation of the Bible " at Cincinnati, 
in 1833, the year of his advent there. So his attainments 
became a stimulus to his young wife, and the first to en- 
courage and appreciate her efforts in her literary career was 
her husband. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe never lived in Kentucky, but dur- 
ing the years spent at Cincinnati, which is separated from that 
state only by the Ohio River, which, as a shrewd politician 
once remarked, was dry one half the year and frozen the 
other, she traveled, accompanied by her father, somewhat 
extensively in the northern belt of slave holding territory, 
and became acquainted in the families of her pupils, whom 
she visited, with some excellent slave holders, for whom the 
Shelbys served as a type. She saw many counterparts of 
the humane, conscientious, just and generous people who 
regarded slavery as an evil, and were anxiously considering 
their- duties to their chattels. Her life on the banks of the 
Ohio River — the boundary line between the slave and free 
states — opened to her a new field of experience, observation 
and sympathy. Her life was full of pleasant cares, sympa- 
thetic anxieties, loving pride, and there was a widening and 
awakening of her powers of mind and heart, which came from 
wifehood, maternity, and an active concern in the affairs of 
the various types of humanity which throbbed closely about 
her. All of her faculties and feelings were called into 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 47 

active play. No neglected capabilities wasted away from 
disuse. Every impulse of her strong, comprehensive nature 
was stimulated, strengthened and encouraged in the atmos- 
phere of her environment. 

Children came, and a double blessing and care promptly 
presented itself in the form of twin daughters. Mrs. 
Stowe has since laughingly remarked that the first 
child is always a poem, but those who follow are 
often most unsentimental prose. This tiny couplet was 
welcomed with all the fervor of young maternal affec- 
tion. The babies were, with one exception, exactly alike ; 
one had curling rings of soft hair, and the other appeared 
quite satisfied with her silken halo, which under the brush 
of the nurse laid more circumspectly upon the little head. 
The proud father soon decided upon the names, to which 
his wife gave pleased acquiescence. The one was called 
Eliza Tyler, after the beloved wife and dear friend, gone to 
Heaven, and the curly head was named Harriet Beecher. A 
boy made his advent within the next year, another son 
came while these little ones yet toddled about the floor, 
another daughter, and a baby boy who died in his wee 
childhood, in all six who came upon the stage during the 
fifteen years at Cincinnati. 

In 1845, during an epidemic, which spread through the 
city, and by the illness and sudden death of a number of 
students, spread consternation in the community at Walnut 
Hills, Mrs. Stowe narrowly escaped death by cholera. In 
three hours after her attack she had run into a collapse, 
with spasms, burnings and cramps, with the stamp of 
death upon her face. But it was not to be. Her work was 
not done, and she recovered. 



48 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Professor Stowe's salary was small, and their means 
straitened, so that his wife kept but one assistant in house- 
hold affairs, " Miss Anna," the young woman who for years 
was a faithful nurse to the children and has ever been 
kindly remembered by the whole family. It is related by 
a sister-in-law, that one morning, when this girl had been 
sent out upon an errand, Mrs. Stowe was trying to get through 
some household work, and three babies, none of them yet 
able to walk, were crying upon the floor. Mother Beech er, 
the Doctor's third wife, who had been a Mrs. Jackson, of 
Boston, came in just then and after helping to pacify the 
screaming twins, and the sobbing boy who vociferated for 
his mother was taken in her arms, Mrs. Beecher suggested 
to Mrs. Stowe that she might employ her talents to better 
effect, than in doing housework. " Try writing for the maga- 
zines again. I am sure you could succeed, and by far less 
labor and much pleasanter occupation, you can earn enough 
to pay a woman to do the work." Mrs. Stowe acted upon 
the advice and soon found acceptance for her pen creations, 
which helped wonderfully in lightening the burdens of 
her daily life. 

*In 1846, having selected some of her earlier sketches 
and added thereto others with the prize story " Uncle Lot," 
Mrs. Stowe issued her first book under the name of " The 
Mayflower." 

It had but a limited circulation and for some years was 
out of print. After she became famous, the articles were 
republished in the present volume known under that name, 
which also contains miscellaneous writings which have 
appeared in different periodicals. 

*The date upon a title page of a volume from the first edition fixes the time of 
this publication three years earlier than that given by Allibone. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 49 

" Uncle Lot " opens with a breezy paragraph which calls 
forth the interest and sympathy of the reader, the more so, 
if he happens to be a native of the good old New England, 
of which she speaks so proudly. It proceeds into 
graphic description and a delineation of indigenous charac- 
ters which holds out a bright promise of her future won- 
derful work. Uncle Lot Griswold, the personified chestnut 
burr, full of prickly points without and substantial sweet- 
ness within, with his cross-grain of surly petulance, and his 
strong fibre of right feeling and action; his wife, a respecta- 
ble, pleasant-faced, God-fearing, and domestic matron of the 
real New England type ; his pretty daughter Grace, just 
returned from school, radiant with magical brightness, 
pretty in person and pleasant in her ways, with native self 
possession and a good humored but positive mind of her 
own; are drawn with a few clean strokes, which evince 
skill and rounded ideas. The effervescing personality of 
Master James Benton, the lover of Grace Griswold, who 
was not altogether favored by Uncle Lot, chiefly on his 
principle of contrariety in all things and pride in not suc- 
cumbing to an universal favorite, is so clever and full of 
vitality that one may be pardoned an extract. 

" Now, this James is to be our hero, and he is just the hero for 
a sensation- — at least, so you would have thought, if you had been 
in Newbury the week after his arrival. Master James was one of 
those whole-hearted, energetic Yankees, who rise in the world as 
naturally as cork does in water. He possessed a great share of 
that chacteristic national trait so happily denominated " cuteness," 
which signifies an ability to do everything without trying, and to 
know everything without learning, and to make more use of one's 
ignorance than other people do of their knowledge. This quality 
4 



50 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

in James was mingled witli an elasticity of animal spirits, a buoy- 
ant cheerfulness of mind, which, though found in the New Eng- 
land character, perhaps, as often as any where else, is not ordi- 
narily regarded as one of its distinguishing traits. 

" As to the personal appearance of our hero, we have not much 
to say of it — not half so much as the girls in Newbury found it 
necessary to remark the first Sabbath that he shone out in the 
meeting-house. There was a saucy frankness of countenance, a 
knowing roguery of eye, a joviality and prankishness of demeanor, 
that was wonderfully captivating, especially to the ladies. 

" It is true that Master James had an uncommonly comfortable 
opinion of himself, a full faith that there was nothing in creation 
that he could not learn and could not do ; and this faith was main 
tained with an abounding and triumphant joyfulness, that fairly 
carried your sympathies along with him, and made you feel quite 
as much delighted with his qualifications and prospects as he felt 
himself. There are two kinds of self-sufficiency ; one is amusing, 
and the other is provoking. His was the amusing kind. It 
seemed, in truth, to be only the buoyancy and overflow of a viva- 
cious mind, delighted with every thing delightful, in himself or 
others. He was always ready to magnify his own praise, but 
quite as ready to exalt his neighbor, if the channel of discourse 
ran that way : his own perfections being completely within his 
knowledge, he rejoiced in them more constantly ; but, if those of 
any one else came within range, he was quite as much astonished 
and edified as if they had been his own. 

" Master James, at the time of his transit to the town of New- 
bury, was only eighteen years of age ; so that it was difficult to 
say which predominated in him most, the boy or the man. The 
belief that he could, and the determination that he would, be 
something in the world had caused him to abandon his home, and, 
with all his worldly effects tied in a blue cotton handkerchief, to 
proceed to seek his fortune in Newbury. And never did stranger 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 51 

in Yankee village rise to promotion with more unparalleled rapidity 
or boast a greater plurality of employment. He figured as school- 
master all the week, and as chorister on Sundays, and taught sink- 
ing and reading in the evenings, besides studying Latin an°d 
Greek with the minister, nobody knew when ; thus fitting for 
college, while he seemed to be doing everything else in the world 
besides. 

"James understood every art and craft of popularity, and made 
himself mightily at home in all the chimney corners of the region 
round about ; knew the geography of everybody's cider barrel 
and apple bin, helped himself and every one else therefrom with 
all bountifulness ; rejoiced in the good things of this life, devoured 
the old ladies' doughnuts and pumpkin pies with most flattering 
appetite, and appearing equally to relish everybody and thing 
that came in his way. 

1 The degree and versatility of his acquirements were truly 
wonderful. He knew all about arithmetic and history, and all 
about catching squirrels and planting corn ; made poetry and hoe 
handles with equal celerity ; wound yarn and took out grease spots 
for old ladies, and made nosegays and knick-knacks for young ones ; 
caught trout Saturday afternoons, and discussed doctrines on Sun- 
days, with equal adroitness and effect. In short, Mr. James 
moved on through the place 

_ ' Victorious, 

Happy and Glorious,' 

welcomed and privileged by everybody in every place, and when 
lie had told his last ghost story, and fairly flourished himself out 
of doors at the close of a long winter's evening, you might see the 
hard face of the good man of the house still phosphorescent with 
bis departing radiance, and hear him exclaim, in a paroxysm of 
admiration, that < Jemeses talk re'ely did beat all ; that he was 
sartainly most a miraculous cre'tur ! ' 



52 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

"It was wonderfully contrary to the buoyant activity of 
Master James's mind to keep a school. He had, moreover, so 
much of the boy and the rogue in his composition, that he could 
not be strict with the iniquities of the curly pates under his charge ; 
and when he saw how determinately every little heart was boiling 
over with mischief and motion, he felt in his soul more disposed 
to join in and help them to a frolic, than to lay justice to the line, 
as was meet. This would have made a sad case, had it not been 
that the activity of the master's mind communicated itself to his 
charge, just as the reaction of one little spring will fill a manufac- 
tory with motion ; so that there was more of an impulse towards 
study in the golden, good-natured day of James Benton than in the 
time of all that went before or came after him. 

"But when 'school was out,' James's spirits foamed over as 
naturally as a tumbler of soda water, and he could jump over 
benches and burst out of doors with as much rapture as the veriest 
little elf in his company." 

It is not difficult to believe that Master James succeeded in 
" getting around " the old man, and, having won the heart 
of the maiden became her happy husband at the end. In 
this sketch there becomes apparent the writer's great love 
for nature, as seen in trees and flowers and in the conven- 
tionalism of the old-fashioned country garden. She speaks 
of the tiny blooming beauties as if they were beings with 
souls, and conveys to the reader the keen enjoyment of the 
humorous side of common things, for instance, the chasing 
of a flock of sheep out of the garden, with the rare gift of 
expression which has distinguished her character drawing, 
and irradiates all her writings. The inimitable scene 
where Master James plays himself and his obnoxious flute 
into Uncle Lot's good graces by means of "Yankee Doodle," 






UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 53 

and through the gamut from patriotic feeling to religious 
sentiment in "Old Hundred," stands in pleasant relief 
against the pathetic scenes which precede the death of 
George Griswold, the minister-son of the old man, upon 
whom his heart and hopes were set. The devotion of the 
son-in-law, and the touching confidence which the broken 
old man at last reposes in his daughter's husband, who 
was also his son's friend, bring the story to a symmetrical 
close. 

Other pertinent and well written articles are, " Let every 
Man mind his own Business," a pithy temperance tale, full 
of telling points and healthful sarcasm ; "Mrs. A. and Mrs. 
B., or What She Thinks About It," a sketch which hits 
off in the most telling manner, some of the social peculiar- 
ities of her own sex, one which has the enduring quality 
which attends a true reading of human nature, and is j ust 
as applicable and forcible to-day as when it was written; 
"A Scholar's Adventures in the Country," which humor- 
ously sets forth the difficulties and annoyances suffered by 
a learned man without "a faculty," who essays to live 
economically in the country; and the sketch of "The old 
Meeting-House," which is a faithful description of the old 
church at Litchfield, with her childish impressions of the 
service and the actors in it, from which excerpts have been 
made. 

These, and other sketches, cannot be unread by the one 
who desires to make a fair estimate of Harriet Beecher 
Stowe's culture and quality of mind, at the period of her life 
which preceded the writing of that great work which sprang 
full-armed, burning with fiery strength, brave with convic- 
tion and mighty with right, from this quiet woman's brain, 



54 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

straight into the arena of politics, and the full light of the 
world's criticism. 

It was not the characteristic of the Beecher mind to deal 
with dead issues or musty questions. They all had abun- 
dant sympathy with the human failings and vicissitudes of 
existence, and kept an outlook upon the aspects of the race 
as the world moved on. 

At Cincinnati, Harriet Beecher Stowe was in the very 
rush and turmoil of the stream of public opinion upon the 
Slavery Question, as it wore and broke into seething cur- 
rents, against the still water of indifference or apathy, or 
dashed madly against the rocks of diverse opinion, which 
here and there interposed. On the other bank of the Ohio 
River, men were bought and sold, tortured, dishonored, mur- 
dered, with no hope of rescue or redress in this world. On 
her side they were nominally free, but only so in name, for 
the hunters of escaped slaves forced the laws to their side 
of the question. The people were forbidden under heavy 
penalties to harbor fugitives, and not until their feet 
touched the soil of Canada, were they safe, and really free. 

At this time Lyman Beecher and his family were on prin- 
ciple, in favor of gradual emancipation, and the President 
of Lane Seminary ordered that the question of abolition 
should not be discussed. The result, which was the depart- 
ure of three-quarters of the students, was a sore trial to 
him and his children, and especially so to Catherine, who 
published a volume in 1837 entitled, " Miss Beecher on the 
Slave Question." It was evident that her feelings against 
the Abolitionists had been intensified by recent occur- 
rences, and this book was received with much favor by the 
slave-holders and their apologists. But facts were more 



uncle tom's cabin. 55 

persuasive than theories, and the younger members of the 
family, Charles and Henry and Harriet, as well as Profes- 
sor Stowe, were so moved by the outrages which constantly 
came to their knowledge, that they threw politics and 
expediency to the winds. 

Whenever opportunity offered, they gave aid and 
succor to their colored brethren escaping from bondage. 
They sheltered them, gave them food and clothing, planned 
to send them on their way to the Canadian border, and 
Charles Beecher and Calvin Stowe rode nights to fur- 
ther them on their journey under the friendly cover of 
darkness. Harriet Beecher Stowe, clasping her own little 
children to her heart, saw and heard the agonies of dusky 
mothers separated from their darlings. Living secure, and 
proudly resting upon the protection and guiding care of 
her noble husband, she saw wives torn from their husband's 
arms and sold away to shame, and lonely death. Fondly 
associating with, appealing to, and rendering helpful love 
to her father and brothers, she saw black brothers and sis- 
ters taken from their parents and scattered to the farthest 
ends of the states which staggered under "the system." 

She educated her own children, and in the elasticity ot 
her affections, which embraced all new appellants for 
mercy or kindness, she had taken into her little school, 
several colored boys and girls, who under the social ostra- 
cism obtained in Cincinnati, were without instruction. 
When, one day, the mother of a bright little boy, who had 
become one of her charges, came weeping, to tell her that 
he was a slave, and was about to be dragged back to igno- 
minious servitude, Mrs. Stowe promptly put on her bonnet 
and canvassing the neighborhood, raised enough money to 



56 THE LIKE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

pay his ransom and returned him to the ownership of his 
over-joyed mother. These cases many times repeated and 
multiplied, with the constantly recurring tales of sorrow 
and hardship which would come over the border, made a 
deep impression upon the uncalloused mind of the incipient 
author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

Furthermore her brother Charles, who had betimes been 
most enthusiastic and reckless of his own safety in co-oper- 
ation with Professor Stowe in spiriting some terror-stricken 
slave out of reach of his pursuers, not yet prepared to enter 
the ministry which he afterwards assumed, had gone to live 
in New Orleans. He was engaged as a collecting clerk in 
a large mercantile business house near the wharves and 
river docks, where slavery loomed up, showing in a horrid 
light the degredation of chattels, drivers, traders and owners. 
Society there was permeated through and through with its 
pollution, and Charles Beecher saw it in all its enormity, 
and the hideous deformity of human character and institu- 
tions which resulted from it. His letters to his family at 
Cincinnati were read with ever increasing horror and indig- 
nation, as he cited in his impetuous manner, case after case 
which came under his observation at New Orleans. 

In the meantime, Cincinnati began to ferment in agita- 
tion against and in defense of the " institution," and even 
the more conservative souls were painfully disturbed by the 
question. The president, the leading professors, and a great 
proportion of the students at Lane Theological Seminary, 
in fifteen years had become avowed Abolitionists. Theo- 
dore D. Weld, then a student, raised his persuasive voice in 
exhortation and prayer against the terrible evil. Mobs 
raged in the city. " Fanatics " were threatened with death 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 57 

at the hands of the aroused thugs and bullys who, without 
any particular principle in the matter, welcomed any chance 
for violence, and one day a riotous crowd started for the 
Seminary, which was situated a mile or two out of town, 
with the purpose of burning it over the heads of the Abo- 
litionists, whom they further declared they would string to 
convenient trees. But their ardor, which rose high at the 
prospect of congenial entertainment, flagged perceptibly in 
meeting natural obstacles to their progress, and a trudge up 
the long hill, which was knee deep with mud, was too much 
to undertake, even for the anticipated pleasure of mobbing 
the Seminary. They therefore subsided and turned back 
to town, where rioting had fewer drawbacks. The excite- 
ment and fury which came to the surface and scum of soci- 
ety in these demonstrations showed how deep and intense 
was the tide of feeling underneath. Dr. Gamaliel Bailey, 
"a wise, temperate and just man, a model of courtesy in 
speech and writing," came to Cincinnati, set up an anti- 
slavery paper and proposed to discuss the question upon a 
public platform in the city. He was mobbed, and finally 
driven from the place, by a horde of Kentucky slave-holders 
and their inflammable sympathizers, who attacked his 
office, destroyed his printing press, and threw his type into 
the Ohio Eiver. As will be remembered, he went to Wash- 
ington and afterwards published an anti-slavery paper 
called the National Era, in which subsequently appeared 
Mrs. Stowe's first great work. 

The Cincinnati respectability, in church and state, depre- 
cated this disturbance, and severely condemned the impru- 
dence of Dr. Bailey in thus "arousing the passions of our 
fellow-citizens of Kentucky." The supreme irony of the 



58 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

situation did not fail to be appreciated by the comparatively 
small band of Abolitionists, who resided in the vicinity. 
The general policy of the social aristocrats was the same 
in Cincinnati years ago as it exists everywhere to-day. Pro- 
fessional reformers were considered " bad form " and avoided 
as nuisances. The Abolitionists were an unfashionable set 
and few in number. Like all who uphold the principle of 
abstract right, as applied to human affairs, they were re- 
garded as a class of monomaniacs, and a disturbing element 
which had become an annoyance to society. It was the 
general impression, even among those who felt some qualms 
of conscience as to the justice of certain phases of slavery, 
that the question was a dark labyrinth, into whose mazes 
one must penetrate at extreme peril. It appeared to be so 
full of obscurity and tortuous turnings, difficulty and pain, 
and so utterly beyond human adjustment or help, that it 
was worse than useless to distress one's self about it. 

It was considered a subject of such delicacy that the people 
of the free states, who thought to interfere, were branded 
as meddlers troubling themselves in a matter in which 
they had no proper concern, the management of which 
should be left to the slave-holders. 

This state of public opinion served for a time to smother 
the growing indignation of those who saw the abuses and 
inherent dangers of the system, in their true light. But 
when the servants of good families were pursued to the 
very doors of their employers in Ohio, and were threatened, 
maltreated and frightfully abused, even on free soil, their 
feeling against slavery deepened. Righteous indignation 
at the outrages which followed fast upon its march, 
contempt for the conservatism of society, which shut 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 59 

its eyes to the evil, because it had not the moral courage 
to come out against it, rose higher. Pity for the hunted 
beings who came to them for shelter, and the almost 
forlorn hope that somehow, sometime, this all might be 
done away with, grew, intensified, and concentrated in 
the mind of Harriet Beecher Stowe, although she as yet 
felt no call to write. The fate of Lovejoy, who for print- 
ing an anti-slavery paper was shot at his own door in 
Alton, Illinois ; the circulation of rumors that Edward 
Beecher, known to be associated with Lovejoy, was also 
killed ; the persecution of young John G. Fee, a Kentucky 
student in Lane Seminary, who liberated his slaves and 
undertook to advocate emancipation in Kentucky and was 
in consequence disinherited by his father and driven from 
the state ; the bravery of Salmon P. Chase, who dared to 
appear in defense of a man who was imprisoned, his prop- 
erty attached, his life threatened with utter ruin for harboring 
runaway slaves ; and hundreds of other glaring instances 
of the fury of the people who upheld slavery, and the 
courage and martyrdom of those who condemned it, are 
familiar to all who have studied this political epoch. 



CHAPTER III. 

PROFESSOR STOWE AND HIS FAMILY LEAVE CINCINNATI 
AND RETURN TO BRUNSWICK, MAINE. THE PERIOD OF 
GREATEST EXCITEMENT OVER THE AMENDMENT TO THE 
FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. MRS. STOWe'S FEELING THAT 
NEW ENGLANDERS IN GENERAL, NEEDED AN EXPOSITION 
OF SLAVERY AS IT PREVAILED IN SOCIAL DETAIL. HER 
INSPIRATION FOR HER GREAT WORK RECEIVED AT THE 
COMMUNION TABLE IN THE LITTLE CHURCH AT BRUNS- 
WICK. THE DEATH OF UNCLE TOM. THE FIRST SCENE 
WRITTEN. HER DOMESTIC SITUATION. FAMILY CARES 
AND DELICATE HEALTH. HER LITERARY METHODS. 
THE MORAL COURAGE IN VIEW OF THE SUFFERINGS OF 
ABOLITIONISTS. PUBLICATION IN WEEKLY INSTALLMENTS 
IN THE NATIONAL ERA. 

After a residence of seventeen years in Cincinnati, as 
Professor of Biblical Literature at Lane Seminary, Calvin 
E. Stowe resigned the chair and returned to New England. 
He was influenced in this change by ill health, finding it 
impossible to longer endure the rigors of the climate at 
Cincinnati. He immediately received the appointment of 
Divinity Professor at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, 
Maine. 

It was in the Fall of 1850, at the period of the greatest 
excitement over the act of September 18, which amended, 
and to a considerable extent superceded, the less effective 
60 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 61 

Fugitive Slave Law. This measure, to which Webster 
consented in his celebrated speech of the 7th of March, was 
particularly humiliating to the North, making at the be- 
hest of the Southern masters a slave catcher of every free- 
man. 

This Bill not only made it a penal offense to aid or har- 
bor slaves who had escaped to the free states, but enforced 
their seizure, demanding under severe enactments their re- 
turn to their former masters, to be followed by a life of bon- 
dage under, if possible, increased miseries. While at Bruns- 
wick, Mrs. Stowe was in constant communication with Dr. 
Edward Beecher and his wife in Boston, who wrote her from 
day to day of the terror and despair, the law and its enforce- 
ment, had occasioned to industrious, worthy colored people, 
who had escaped from the South and had for some time 
lived in peace and security in that city. She heard of 
midnight captures ; of the seizure of defenceless women on 
the street, or while going about their household duties ; the 
abduction of little children at play or on their way to or 
from school ; of families broken up and fleeing in the dead 
of winter to the ice-bound shores of Canada. And what 
was to her and is still to succeeding generations, inexplica- 
ble and dreadful, was the apathy of the mass of the usually 
right minded, just and conscientious New England people, 
on the subject. In New England, as at the West, the 
Abolitionists were a despised band, with comparatively few 
adherents, and subject to the contempt of the self-denomi- 
nated " best society." 

There were a few strong voices in the pulpit, that de- 
nounced the institution, but to her excited mind the church 
and the world appeared to join hands against the oppressed. 



62 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

In Oct., 1887, George W. Cable gave the Congregational 
Club of New York City a talk on " Cobwebs in the Church." 
"Speaking as a Southerner," he said, " I do believe we have 
to thank the Protestant Church of America for the war 
that drenched our land in blood, for it fell into condoning con- 
ventional sin and into approval of a national crime." 

This denunciation is doubtless unjust to the many conscien- 
tious Christians who hesitated. not upon the desirableness of 
abolition, but were sadly troubled to know how to bring it 
about. It was not that they were apathetic, as the history of 
the church militant will show, but only that seeing all sides 
of the controversy they appreciated the risks incident to a 
violent disregard of constitutional law. It should not be 
forgotten that in 1818, the Presbj^terian General Assembly 
passed stringent resolutions against slavery, but in 1837 
slavery found many apologists in the Southern bodies on 
account of commercial influence. As is well known, the 
institution had then become so utterly abhorrent to the 
Presbyterians of the North, particularly in New York 
State, there was a division, which separated the Southern 
brethren from their remonstrating friends, who were almost 
a solid body in the North. But in spite of the earnest ob- 
jection of many Christian people, the nation still presented 
to the world the sorry spectacle of a Christian republic up- 
holding slavery. 

And now it seemed as if the system, heretofore confined 
to the Southern states, was gathering itself for irruption 
into new fields, preparing to extend its folds all over the 
North and West, and overlap and choke the dearest princi- 
ples of free society. With growing astonishment and dis- 
tress Mrs. Stowe heard on all sides, from humane and Chris- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 63 

tian people, that slavery was a constitutional right, and 
that opposition to it was treason, and endangered the na- 
tional Union. Under this conviction, she saw many earn- 
est and tender-hearted Christian people close their eyes, 
ears, and hearts to the harrowing details of its practical 
workings, silence all discussion of its wrongs, and act as in 
duty bound to assist the slave owners to recover their prop- 
erty. She felt that these good people could not know what 
slavery was. They had no comprehension of the thing 
they were tolerating. 

It was impossible for Harriet Beecher Stowe, so born, so 
reared, and so married, not to have been opposed to slav- 
ery. "With her family and friends, like Webster, Sumner 
and Emerson, she at first advocated the purchase of the 
slaves and gradual emancipation, but the encroachments of 
the slave power in the passage of the Fugitive Slave Bill 
in 1850, opened her eyes, and she became aggressive in her 
opposition. Hers was not alone the objection of the emi- 
nent politicians, whose jurisprudence controlled their feel- 
ing, that slavery was detrimental to the progress of the 
nation ; nor that of the great transcendentalist, who based his 
opposition on the fact, that it degraded the manhood of men. 

She saw the question in its various relations and fully com- 
prehended its complex aspects, but her heart was greater 
than her head. The woes, the terror, the suffering of human 
beings, roused her to action even while ulterior reasoning 
seemed to counsel patience. It was not that she failed to 
comprehend- the political situation; it was that justice, 
pity, and righteous indignation rose above, and made them 
secondary. She had an innate appreciation of how far 
nobler it was to maintain the right than to defer to unjust 



64 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

established laws. She placed lier feet npon the rock which 
upheld Epictetus when he wrote, " It is better by agreeing 
with truth to conquer opinion, than by agreeing with 
opinion to conquer truth," and she gave Americans the 
credit of assuming, that if they could see slavery as it 
existed they would rise for its extermination. 

Dr. Gamelial Bailey, who had been driven from Cincin- 
nati under such aggravating circumstances some years 
before, had in 1847 established a journal, " The National 
Era" at Washington, D. C, which became one of the lead- 
ing organs of the anti-slavery party. He was a man of lit- 
erary predilections and was wise enough to secure for his 
magazine the influence of the best writers. He had asso- 
ciated with himself as assistant or corresponding editor, 
John G. Whittier, a young man who had served his ap- 
prenticeship in the poet's corner of Garrison's "Free Press" 
in Thayer's Philadelphia "Gazette" and as editor of the 
"American Manufacturer" and the "Gazette" of Haverhill, 
Mass. He had suffered for his opinions as expressed in " The 
Liberator" and spoken in ringing in tones in his poems, 
which are properly called "Voices of Freedom," in several 
Journals and at all needful times. In the first volumes of 
"The National Era" may be found many of his grandest 
poems, and also the poems of the Cary sisters, Lucy Lar- 
com, and the bright and witty articles of Grace Greenwood, 
whom Dr. Bailey had early called to his aid. 

In perusing this magazine. Mrs. Stowe noticed the inci- 
dent of a slave woman escaping with her child across the 
floating ice of the river, from Kentucky into Ohio, and it 
became the first salient point of her great work and is seen 
in the history of Eliza. She began to meditate and dream 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 65 

over a possible story that should graphically set forth the 
bare ugliness, and repulsive features of the system of negro 
slavery. The black husband who remained in Kentucky, 
going back and forth on parole and remaining in bondage 
rather than forfeit his word of honor to his master, sua- 
gested the character of Uncle Tom. Once suggested, the 
scenes of the story began rapidly to form in her mind, and 
as they are prone to do in the practical forces of energetic 
character, emotions and impressions instantly crystalized 
into ideas and opinions. The whole wonderful scheme was 
denned, before the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " put her 
pen to paper. She has related that the closing scene, the 
death of Uncle Tom, came to her as a material vision while 
sitting at the Communion one Sunday in the little church at 
Brunswick. She was perfectly overcome by it, and could 
scarcely restrain the violent emotion that sprang into tears 
and shook her frame. She was carried out of herself. 

Aristotle wrote, " No great genius was ever without some 
mixture of madness, nor can anything grand or superior be 
spoken except by the agitated soul." It was the fire of 
outraged feeling which inspired this memorable work. She 
hastened home and wrote, and, her husband being away, 
she read it aloud to her older children. Her burn- 
ing sentences so touched their young hearts that they 
wept with her, and cried out that slavery was the most 
accursed thing in the world. Some days afterwards Profes- 
sor Stowe, having returned, was passing through her room, 
and noticing many sheets of closely written paper upon his 
wife's table, he took them up and began to read. His cas- 
ual curiosity soon merged into interest and deepened into 
astonishment.. He sought his wife with words of enthusi- 



66 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

astic praise and said, " You can make something out of 
this." 

"I mean to," was the quiet reply of his wife. 

From this time on, Harriet Beecher Stowe was possessed by 
the theme; it dominated all other concerns, and held her a 
willing captive until it was done. She said to the writer 
a year or two before her death, " I did not think of doing a 
great thing, I did not want to be famous. It came upon 
me and I did as I must, perforce, wrote it out, but I was 
only as the pen in the hands of God. What there is good 
and powerful in it came from Him. I was merely the instru- 
ment. It is strange that He should have chosen me, ham- 
pered and bound down as I was with feeble health and 
family cares. Bat I had to do it." 

A glance at her domestic situation may give an idea of 
what it was to undertake the writing of a book at this 
time. Mrs. Stowe was the mother of six children, the 
youngest of whom, now the Eev. Charles E. Stowe, pastor 
of the Windsor Avenue Congregational Church, of Hart- 
ford, Conn., was then a babe of a few months. He was 
born in the spring of 1851, and it was during the following 
summer and fall that this great labor was performed. Mrs. 
Stowe, in addition to her own little flock, had a number of 
pupils whom she had taken into her family, and her father, 
the Eev. Lyman Beecher, had come on from Cincinnati, 
and was occupied with the revision and publication of one 
of his books, and he and his step-daughter, Mrs. Laura 
Dickinson, who acted as his amanuensis, became members 
of the Stowe household. Catering to and caring for the 
comfort of this large family, which comprised more than a 
dozen members, of all ages, from the venerable Doctor to 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 67 

his tiny, helpless grandson, would seem to be quite enough 
for one frail little woman to do. In her position as Pro- 
fessor's wife there were also various duties as hostess and 
entertainer constantly incumbent upon her, but she was not 
discouraged. Her vocation was upon her and most nobly 
she assumed it. She has said, " I knew my work must be 
done, my children cared for, dinner prepared and put upon 
the table and a thousand and one things seen to, but 
this was always uppermost in my mind, and it got itself 
done, somehow." 

Scenes, incidents and conversations rushed upon her with 
such vivid clearness and strength that they could not be 
denied. During her varied domestic and maternal duties, 
the idea ran on, an undercurrent of logical argument illus- 
trated with suggestive incidents, and she could hardly wait 
to get at her pen and fix it upon paper, as she sat with her 
portfolio on her knee by the kitchen fire, in the moments 
snatched from her domestic duties. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe had none of the dependence upon 
small accessories, which was a peculiarity of authors as 
great as Wordsworth, who when writing, habitually fingered 
the button of his coat ; Ben Johnson, who inhaled clouds 
of his beloved snuff, and Schiller, who could not get inspira- 
tion without the aroma of half-decayed apples which he 
kept in the drawer of his desk, to the discomfiture of his 
friend Goethe, who was made extremely ill when once at- 
tempting to write thereon. 

Her theme was sufficient stimulus, and no particular con- 
ditions were necessary to the easy working of her mind. 
A friend who had an intimate knowledge of her literary 
methods recently said to the writer concerning the author 



68 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

of Uncle Tom's Cabin . " When the inspiration came and 
she was in the midst of a thrilling or pathetic scene, she 
sat with her MSS. on her knee and wrote, no matter what 
were the distractions." This power of self-withdrawal is a 
rare gift even among the greatest of novelists. Silence 
comfort, and seclusion are the indispensable conditions for 
most writers. As Lowell says : 

" Thy work unfinished, bolt and bar thy door; 
Where they see two the sky-gods come no more." 

"The book," as Professor Stowe once said, "was written 
in sorrow, in sadness, and obscurity, with no expectation 
of reward save in the prayers of the poor, and with a heart 
almost broken in view of the sufferings which it describes 
and the still greater suffering which it dared not describe." 

When two or three chapters were written, Mrs. Stowe 
sent a letter to Dr. Bailey of the National Era, telling him 
she had projected a story which might run through several 
numbers of the paper and offering it to him if he desired 
it. He instantly applied for it and the weekly installments 
were started. The story, and her duty on this subject were 
so much more real and imperative to her than any other 
things in life, that the copy was always ready for the type- 
setters. In shaping her material Mrs. Stowe had but one 
object; to show the system of slavery as it existed. No 
idea of sensational success would permit her to exaggerate 
or pervert facts. She had, however, the tact to perceive 
that its presentation in unrelieved gloom of sadness, would 
not command readers. She therefore summoned all her ex- 
perience of the wit and drollery of the African race, at the 
same time developing a sincere desire to show that the evils 
of slavery were the natural outgrowth of a bad system 






UNCLE tom's cabin. 69 

which, retaliated -upon its victims, and its administrators 
many of whom were not to blame, with almost equally bale- 
ful force. 

Mrs. Stowe knew what she was braving. Public opin- 
ion had long before made itself unpleasantly emphatic 
m personal attacks on the persons of women who had the 
temerity to harbor anti-slavery views. Almost twenty 
years before, the distinguished Englishwoman, Harriet 
Marti neau who had committed herself to anti-slavery prin- 
ciples in her book "Demerara," and, against her wishes 
found herself forced by circumstances to avow her settled 
aversion to it during the early part of her visit in Boston, 
became subject not only to annoyance and insult, in 
free, Puritan New England, on this account, but had been 
the object of obscene abuse in newspapers and pamphlets. 
Mrs. Stowe knew that Miss Martineau's expressed desire to 
view the institution of slavery as it existed in the United 
States had aroused such feeling against her, that traveling 
became a peril, and her entertainers in various cities were 
jeopardized by her presence. In the ferment in which so- 
ciety was then working, she ran the risk of personal violence 
and endured a large share of the virulent abuse which 
•everywhere fell upon the Abolitionists. Mrs. Stowe knew 
of the public hatred of this Englishwoman who had dared 
to say, in recounting her experience in this country, "I was 
not then aware of the extent to which all but virtuous rela- 
tions are found possible between the whites and blacks, nor 
how unions, to which the religious and civil sanctions of 
marriage are alone wanting, take place wherever there are 
masters and slaves, throughout the country. When I did 



70 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

become aware of this I always knew how to stop the hypo- 
critical talk against ' amalgamation.' " 

Americans would not stand this sort of meddling in their 
political and social affairs, and when displeased they had 
proved they knew well how to punish the offender. The 
fact that an Abolitionist was a woman, did not protect her 
from the fury of the chivalric southerners and their north- 
ern sympathizers. Letters threatening to "cut out her 
tongue and cast it on a dung hill," to hang her, and to com- 
mit her to imprisonment and disgrace, assailed Miss Mar- 
tineau. Abuse of her ran through almost every paper in 
the Union, and a certain sheet of New York, published an 
article so filthy that it will not bear mention. She was rep- 
resented as a hired agent, and floggings, tar and feathers, and 
other receptions then popular in the hospitable South, were 
promised her. On more than one occasion she found her- 
self surrounded by an infuriated mob. 

Maria Weston Chapman had also been subject to similar 
outrageous treatment on account of her expression of anti- 
slavery opinions. 

Mrs. Follen was another social martyr to the cause. 

The brave, sweet, gentle Quakeress, Lucretia Mott, had 
at this same period addressed a meeting of anti-slavery 
women, with the house surrounded by rioters, and brick- 
bats frequently crashing through the windows. She had 
walked the streets of Boston threatened with instant death, 
pressed upon and jostled by a crowd of howling ruffians, 
and preserved her gentle dignity even amid a shower of 
eggs and other offensive missiles. 

Many of the eminent scholars and thinkers of the country, 
though occupying a position which made violence impos- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 71 

sible, had revealed themselves no less clearly upon the 
question. As a class, the literati of Boston and Cambridge 
sneered at the controversy as a low," and too utterly repug- 
nant to fine feeling to be touched upon by cultured persons. 
" Edward Everett, the man of letters par excellence," says 
Harriet Martineau, was " burning incense to the South, in- 
sulting the Abolitionists because they were few and weak." 
Boston had seen Garrison flying through the streets in im- 
minent peril of the hot tar barrel that was making ready 
for him. The controversy had branded Wendell Phillips 
and Theodore D. Weld as fanatics ; it had aroused the 
whole country and " put Boston in an uproar," and now this 
brave woman under the stress of indignation and righteous 
feeling at the probable extension of slavery, was about to 
throw herself into the breach, with the prospect that her 
small personality might in consequence, forever sink in 
ignominy and public scorn. 

While it is true that names that now are honored, such 
as Garrison, Whittier, Phillips, Emerson, Gerret Smith, 
Edmund Quincy, Theodore Parker, Sumner, Baird, Lucy 
Stone and Sallie Holley, were enrolled as Abolitionists, the 
solid phalanx of society in Boston, (with but few excep- 
tions) the bench, the bar, the clergy, merchants, bankers,, 
politicians and the "best citizens" generally, felt the utmost 
scorn and detestation for these advocates of philanthrophy 
and justice. No one of the present generation can have a 
realization of the manifestations of contempt which every 
where met the Free-Soilers and Abolitionists. Tn the words 
of an observer, " Phillip's oratory and Whittier's poetry 
were mere whispers against a hurricane." It was a curious 
fact, though one not unparalleled in the history of reforms, 



72 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

that the people who raised their voices against a tolerated 
wrong became the objects of the hate and derision of the 
community. At this epoch it really appeared to many 
easy-going good people of the country that Abolitionism, 
and not slavery, was the sum of ail villainies. 

But all these considerations weighed as nothing, before 
Mrs.Stowe's sense of justice and her calm intention to uphold 
the right at any peril. She had never considered expedi- 
ency as distinguished from justice, and the fact that society 
now gave it the preference, was no concern of hers. Her 
husband nobly upheld her, and the story went on, and 
speedily began to be heard from. The little woman, wife 
of Professor Stowe in the plain house up at Brunswick, 
performed her household duties, nursed her baby, trained 
her inefficient servants, taught her scholars, ministered to 
her husband, entered into his life's work with an intelligent 
sympathy and appreciation which were a rare inspiration 
to him, and wrote the weekly installments of what in spite 
of all critical and literary estimates, stands to-day as the 
greatest American novel. 

It seems from all personal testimony to have been 
an inspiration, the action of a mind of which complete 
possession has been taken by internal influences. The 
theme held her as the ancient mariner held the wed- 
ding guest. She however, reinforced her writing by 
facts from various sources outside of her own exper- 
ience, visited Boston, went to the anti -slavery rooms, culled 
from Theodore D. Weld's " Slavery As It Is," and the lives 
of Josiah Ilenson and Lewis Clark, circumstances of both 
of whose experiences are interwoven in the characters of 
Uncle Tom and George Harris. 



uncle tom's cabin. 73 

Goethe sajs that " a great poet must be a citizen of his 
age as well as of his country." The power which was inher- 
ited from the father of the Beecher family and has always 
been observed in his children, of discovering and espousing 
the best interests of the hour, made Mrs. Stowe especially 
fortunate in the period of this writing. The first wave of 
furious resistance to the idea of abolition had subsided, and 
now that the waters were swiftly receding and gathering 
for greater strength to engulf the commonwealth, she threw 
her work upon the incoming tide, and by its force it was 
cast upon solid ground, where it rested as firm and incon- 
testable as the rocks themselves. The tale which the 
writer thought would run through a few numbers, contin- 
ued on through months, and as scene after scene unfolded, 
and the picture, dark and flashing with lurid light 
unrolled, messages, and letters came from the little band 
of sympathizers who read the paper, and rumors began to 
get abroad that a strange and powerful story was coming 
out, and the subscription to the Era was largely increased 
thereby. 

While " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was in course of publica- 
tion in the Era Mrs. Stowe proposed its publication in 
book form, to Messrs. Phillips and Sampson of Boston. 
They respectfully declined the proposition, but about that 
time a young Boston publisher, Mr. John P. Jewett, recog- 
nizing its strength and possible future as a bone of conten- 
tion, made overtures to her for its publication. He 
remarked to Prof. Stowe that in his opinion it would bring 
his wife " something handsome." Upon hearing this Mrs. 
Stowe replied, with a twinkle in her eyes, she hoped it 
would bring her enough to purchase what she had not had for 



74 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

a long time, a new silk dress. Mr. Jewett reminded her that 
it was an unpopular subject, and while a small volume might 
sell, he should not feel warranted in bringing out a large 
work. Mrs. Stowe tersely answered that he must act his 
own judgment in the matter, that she could not abridge or 
curtail her work. That the story made itself and when it 
was finished, she would stop. 

In view of the impression made by this book and the 
resultant popularity which crowned its author as the most 
honorably famous American woman, it will be well to 
examine "Uncle Tom's Cabin" with the reader, and if pos- 
sible, place ourselves back thirty-seven years, and try to 
realize what the message was to that age, and thus appre- 
ciate its courage and persuasive force in relation to pub- 
lic opinion. 

" Uncle Tom's Cabin " was not written like any other 
successful story that the world ever saw ; it had no re- writ- 
ing, scarcely a revision ; it was dashed off at white heat, 
and sent forthwith to the printer. No wonder that its 
unities were not perfectly preserved. Bather, is it not a 
marvel that it came forth free from the little slips and over- 
sights, which the greatest novelists have had to confess ? As 
for instance when Thackeray having killed off a character in 
one number of his serial publication of a novel, unconcern- 
edly continued his conversation in the next, and under 
similar conditions Mr. Hardy after bringing a person to the 
summit of a hill, in the next installment of the story 
incontinently started him up again. 

Let us take it for granted that every reader, certainly 
every American reader, has read " Uncle Tom's Cabin " 
and only ask that he will go again cursorily over its pages 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 75 

with us. Let us notice how tlie characters, waiting for no 
introduction or explanation, enter upon the stage and by their 
words explain themselves as no description could do, 
Within ten lines the attention is arrested, opinion chal- 
lenged, and the tolerated usages of the slave trade vividly 
portrayed and held up to the broad light of common sense 
and decencv. 

Haley, the type and epitome of all slave traders, earns 
hearty detestation in his earliest remarks. He is instantly 
seen to be a man whose flesh has hardened to leather under 
the unnatural circulation of the salts of cruelty and avarice 
through his veins, a man alive to nothing but trade and 
profit, cool and unhesitating and unrelenting as the grave, 
who would have sold his own mother at a percentage. 

Mr. Shelby appears a refined and merciful man, one of 
the slave owners who were born to the system and who 
suffered from its moral workings in degree, as did his un- 
conscious chattels, who lived under an uneasy dread of 
things that were permitted by it, though not inflicted by 
him. A picture is drawn of the fairest side of slave-hold- 
ing as it existed in Kentucky and had been witnessed by the 
author. The good-humored indulgence of some masters 
and mistresses, of which the Shelbys stand the personified 
embodiment, with yet the awful contingencies which con- 
stantly waited upon pecuniary embarrassment or the death 
of the owner, are shown in all the fairness of the writer's 
honesty and the cruel ghastliness of truth. The brooding, 
portentous shadow of a law which regarded all these 
human beings with beating hearts and loving affections as 
so many heads of plantation stock belonging to their mas- 



76 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ter, is seen darkly hanging over what had been so often 
falsely defended, as " a patriarchal institution." 

The conversation of the two men, so full of nighty 
charged meaning, gives in few words, a strong outline of 
the thing the author means to attack. 

The irruption of bright-eyed, glossy-haired little Jim 
Crow, his childish antics and amusing imitations of 
various plantation characters; the entrance of his mother, 
the beautiful yellow girl, Eliza, who is looking for the 
child, the trader's offer to buy the lad, overheard by the 
mother, and her distress and appeal to her mistress, rapidly 
lead the reader into the intense story and fasten the interest, 
which never flags to the end. 

The character of George Harris, Eliza's husband, a bright, 
talented mulatto " boy," who was a valued hand upon a 
neighboring plantation, has become an overseer in a bag- 
ging factory, and subsequently invented a machine for the 
cleaning of the hemp, is like most of the other characters, 
drawn from life and facts, and, it is needless to say, was a 
revelation to northern readers, unaccustomed to regard 
negro slaves as having souls and minds and intellectual 
faculties worthy of respect. The original of the character 
was an ex-slave, who for six years was an inmate of the 
house of a family connection of the author, Deacon SafYord, 
of Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. He ran away from his 
masters in 1840. 

The exhibition of the jealousy of the master which 
induces him to degrade George to the most menial farm 
work, embittering his life, arousing deep and ineradicable 
hatred for the man and the institution which made such 
injustice possible, quickly follows, and the strange tale 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 77 

takes deeper significance in every line. The flight of 
George inevitably ensues upon this unbearable treatment. 

Mrs. Shelby is moved by her own religious convictions, 
her uneasiness as to the right of slave-holding and her 
sympathy with Eliza, to remonstrate with her husband, 
and their conversation brings out in strong effect the cir- 
cumstances which may occur to all slave-holders, enforcing 
the sale of their people. In making this point the author 
dealt a heavy blow at the stronghold of the system, and 
powerfully refuted the assertions of Southerners, that things 
had been exaggerated by abolition fanatics. 

The fact that a slave could not be married — that the 
most sacred of all ties, even though solemnized by a cler- 
gyman and witnessed by master, mistress and friends, 
might be ruptured any day at the whim of the owner, the 
husband forced to take another mate or live in bestial 
polygamy, the wife given to any man her owner selected r 
or reduced to a life of shame as the mistress of any uxor- 
ious white man who chose to buy her — is developed with 
power, and the world began to see slavery as it was in 
social detail. 

Palpable truth waits on all the author's situations and 
common sense proved her standpoint to be the right one. 

In chapter four we are introduced to Uncle Tom's cabin, 
and receive a bright picture of it, overrun with scarlet 
bigonia and a native multiflora rose, entwisting and inter- 
lacing until scarcely a vestige of the rough logs was to be 
seen. 

Here is Aunt Chloe, the reigning queen of the culinary 
department of "the house," as the master's dwelling was 
called. Poor, faithful, kind, sensitive, brave Aunt Chloe, 



78 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

with her "round, black, shiniDg face, which suggested that 
it might have been washed over with the white of eggs 
like one of her own tea rusks." 

Here too is Uncle Tom, Mr. Shelby's best hand, large, 
broad-chested, powerfully made, with a full, glossy, black 
face, in whose truly African features, shine grave happi- 
ness and steady common sense, combined with an air of 
benevolence, self respect and dignity, which characterizes 
all that he says and does. His earnest attempts to learn 
to read and write under the tuition of young master George 
Shelby ; the sympathetic interest of Aunt Chloe in the 
matter of education, which was quite foreign to her useful 
lore ; the rollicking of the children on the floor and their 
subsequent sitting down to a feast of Aunt Chloe's deli- 
cious batter cakes, fills out the picture of planta- 
tion life which comes upon the canvas. A dark and sor- 
rowful picture it is, but illumined with high lights and 
bits of warm color which give it a richness, a brilliancy, 
evolved from startling contrasts which takes the senses by 
storm, and carries feeling captive. 

The chapter ends with a graphic delineation of a relig- 
ious meeting of the plantation negroes — a scene then new 
and strange to readers who had no knowledge of Southern 
life, but which has since become so familiar through the 
scattering of the freed slaves over the country and the 
dramatic representations of this peculiar phase of religious 
manifestation. It has however, never been equalled in 
verbal description, especially in the tender respect with 
which the author illustrates the force and effect of Uncle 
Tom's prayers. 

While the meeting is going on in the cabin, Uncle Tom 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 79 

is sold to Haley, the slave trader, to enable Mr. Shelby to 
pay his debts! 

Eliza, rinding that her child has also been sold, resolves 
to fly, and if possible, reach Canada. She makes ready at 
night and appears at the door of Uncle Tom's cabin, to bid 
them farewell. The dramatic situation — the black man 
with the candle, Aunt Chloe stricken with sympathy 
and terror at her own misfortune, Eliza, clasping her sleep- 
ing boy to her breast, wildly "saying her few words of adieu 
and hastening away into the darkness — is familiar to the 
whole reading world. The flight of Eliza with her child 
has become a classic in every country of this round earth. 
Who shall describe it better or more tersely than the 
author's burning words, every sentence of which quivers 
with high wrought sensibility? Millions of readers have 
followed the slave girl fleeing with her babe, tens of thou- 
sands of play-goers, have felt their heart beats lessen in 
painful suspense as her shivering form has been seen flying 
across the treacherous cakes of floating ice which covered the 
river between her and freedom, and have burst into tumul- 
tuous applause and weeping, as with one last frenzied leap 
she has reached the shore and thanked God for safety ! 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONTINUATION" OF THE OUTLINE OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." 
SLAVE LIFE IN NEW OKLEANS. UNCLE TOM THE COACH- 
" MAN AND STEWARD OF THE ST. CLARE ESTABLISHMENT. 
HIS GUARDIANSHIP OF LITTLE EVA. THE DEATH OF THE 
SAINTED CHILD. THE CHARACTERS WHICH ARE FAMOUS. 
THE BREAKING UP OF THE HOUSEHOLD. TOM IS PLACED 
UPON THE BLOCK AND SOLD TO SIMON LEGREE. SCENES 
UPON A RED RIVER PLANTATION. THE DEATH OF UNCLE 
TOM. HIS EXPERIENCE AN EPITOMIZATION OF EVERY 
POSSIBLE ARGUMENT AGAINST "THE INSTITUTION." "UN- 
CLE TOM'S CABIN " AS A WORK OF LITERARY ART. A 
STORY WITHOUT A LOVER. IS IT A NOVEL? 

With fine understanding of the limitations of the reader's 
sensibilities, the author perceived that too long a tension of 
outraged feeling would be wearisome. She therefore pre- 
sented counter situations, which appeal all the more acutely 
to the feelings, by contrast with what is in the background. 
In the chapter descriptive of the excitement on the Shelby 
plantation when it is discovered that Eliza has fled, the 
wrath of the slave trader, the secret gladness of Mrs. 
Shelby, and the unproductive preparations for catching the 
runaway girl, are most entertainingly depicted. 

The clownish hatred of Sam for the trader, his irrelevant 
and confusing suggestions as to the means of Eliza's cap- 
ture, his simulated wild anxiety to make ready the horses, 
which results in detention, and confusion thrice confounded 
80 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 81 

are described with great humor. The throwing of Mr. Haley 
over the head of the spirited mare whom Sam had alarmed 
by his twitchings and shoutings and irritated almost to 
madness by placing a sharp beech nut under her saddle ; 
the escape of the horses into the grounds; the hurrying and 
scurrying here and there ; the snorting of the horses who 
fail to comprehend the method in Sam's madness; the 
barking. of the dogs who partake of the excitement; the 
impotent rage of the trader and the vociferous joy of the 
pickaninnies, who scream, giggle, run and roll over each 
other upon the earth; is all given with such rare wit and 
picturesqueness that one must perforce, lay back and 
indulge in a hearty ha-ha, with tears of amusement wetting 
the eye-lids which lately had been weighed with heavy 
drops of bitter sympathy. 

Eliza's refuge with the good Ohio people, and her safe 
arrival on the Canadian shores, is a satisfactory outcome of 
her terrific experience. The dilemma, and generous action 
of the good man, the Senator, who theorizes that the law 
should be obeyed, but acts upon the feeling that this 
woman needs help, is a reproduction of the triumph of the 
heart over the head, which had been the frequent experi- 
ence of the Beecher family at Walnut Hill. 

In the meantime Aunt Chloe at home in the little cabin, 
irons Uncle Tom's shirts, moistening them with her fast 
falling tears. She packs his clothes neatly, after putting all 
in order, the sad farewell is taken, and Tom goes away with 
the trader towards the Mississippi Eiver. The description 
of the dismal ride, which is pleasantly interrupted by the 
arrival of George Shelby, who has ridden after them to bid 
his dear old servant good-bye, and the attitude of Mr. 
6 



82 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Haley towards his " property," is drawn with masterly 
strokes. 

Where had Harriet Beecher Stowe, the daughter of a 
New England divine, reared in the innocence of life upon 
the breezy Litchfield hills, shielded by gallant whole- 
souled fellows who would not that their sister should know 
of the low possibilities of men, united to a learned professor 
of theology, and associated with masculine friends of noble 
character, refinement and cultivation, learned how to depict 
the scene that follows ? Where had she been that she could 
so graphically describe the aspect, actions and conversation 
of a company of coarse men in a bar-room ? The scene 
in chapter eleven, where George Harris appears as a gentle- 
man accompanied by his servant, is drawn as if from sight. 
Could it have been so accurately described from hearsay, 
the very spirit and flavor of the atmosphere permeating it? 
It was an inspiration, a psychological insight, which 
amounted to clairvoyance. And how the effects of " the 
system " stand forth as reflected upon these white men who 
were the administrators of it ! 

Then comes the sale. The scene in the slave market 
aroused thousands to vehement indignation and doubtless 
did more to liberate the American slaves than any other 
effort put forth by the talented and eloquent band of aboli- 
tionists in this country. Read it, Americans ! Read it 
again, and thank Heaven that this blot is removed from 
the face of our fair land. 

See again, the half blind, lame old woman, who is not 
salable, torn from her youngest son, a lad of fourteen, upon 
whom she hoped to lean in her decrepit old age. Hear her 
groans and piteous pleadings to be bought too ! 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 83 

See "the article enumerated as John, aged thirty," whose 
face quivers an instant as he tells Uncle Tom he has a wife 
who knows nothing of his departure from her. 

See the black mother, who finds herself with her nursing 
child on the boat going " down river," when she hears 
that, instead of going to Louisville as a cook at hire, she 
has been sold, and forever separated from her husband. See 
her, when she awakes from a fitful sleep to find that her 
baby boy, a pretty fellow of ten months, has been taken 
from her arms and sold to a trader who chanced to fancy 
him ! See her, as she hurries to the side of the boat when 
all is still at midnight, and leaps into the dark water and 
buries her troubles in death. 

Who can read it calmly, even to-day when it is all past? 
Think what it must have been at the time when society 
was torn by conflicting opinions and the government had 
just decided to uphold the system, upon constitutional 
grounds. When the law sanctioned the invading of free 
states to reclaim u property," and leases were written to run 
ninety-nine years, which transferred slaves into the holdings 
of proprietors over the lines, thus carrying slavery into free 
soil. 

We must not forget what a tremendous force and 
solidity of custom this slight woman battled with her deli- 
cate hands. There were strong arguments against interfer- 
ence with vested political rights. There were reasons of 
weight sufficient to deter our greatest statesmen from doing 
more than attempt to confine slavery within its old limits, 
social considerations which might well have had weight 
with one of a family who were superior to the fanaticism 
which clamored for a principle, without regard to the peril 



84 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

involved in the sudden disruption of laws which, were based 
upon constitutional rights. These considerations not 
strangely placed the extreme abolitionists under a ban 
which it is easy to understand, whenwe look at their vehe- 
mence, and their rash haste which appeared mere incendiar- 
ism to those cooler heads, who viewed the question from an 
intellectual rather than an emotional standpoint. 

Harriet Beecher Stovve might well have hesitated, but 
the wrongs of the blacks were upon her heart. Her soul 
was burning with an overwhelming pity and righteous in- 
dignation which brooked no restraint and made her cry out 
in so piercing, thrilling, and persuasive a voice, that it 
reached the world around, and resounded even to Heaven. 

Yes, to Heaven, for this work was a prayer, and was 
doubtless one of the several providences which resulted in 
the emancipation of the slaves in America. For in spite of 
the augmenting power of the South in the government; in 
spite of the increasing value and usefulness of the slaves, 
which the invention of the Cotton Gin had brought about ; 
in spite of the feeling among politicians, and conservative 
people everywhere, that constitutional rights must be pro- 
tected until the frame work of the government could be re- 
constructed — the cause of freedom advanced. 

Differences between the North and South widened, and 
the War which commenced upon other issues, and was 
fought to maintain the Union or disrupt it, brought about 
the Emancipation of the Slaves, because the hour had 
come. 

Before Lincoln's proclamation Mrs. Stowe's ideas had 
permeated all society and had done much to work public 
opinion up to the support of the measure. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 85 

Without such support, no law can be other than a dead 
letter. The clear sight and courage with which she upheld 
her convictions, in that time when history was rolled in the 
scroll of the future, is a marvel. As we read it all now, it 
is with approval, with acquiescence, which yet is strength- 
ened and augmented, with the flow of her highly charged, 
electrically eloquent, sentences. As we attempt to realize 
the state of feeling, which in the North permitted, even 
while it did not sympathize with, Slavery, and in the South 
rested upon it as the foundation of the political and social 
system, it becomes plain how this great book, appearing at 
that epoch, wrestled with the custom of the western world, 
and turned the eyes of all nations to the " deep damnation " 
of our institution. 

But to return to the story. Uncle Tom was to see more 
bright days. He was purchased by a gentleman of New 
Orleans, to please his little daughter — an angelic child who 
had made acquaintance with Uncle Tom on the river 
steamer, and been rescued by him from a watery grave, 
when in her play she had fallen into the stream. 

Augustine St. Clare took him home for a coachman for 
his wife. In Augustine St. Clare we see another phase of 
the character of a southern gentleman. Of distinguished 
appearance, grace of manner and intellectual culture, indul- 
gent and light in his moods, as was to be expected from the 
strain of French Huguenot blood in his veins, he presents in 
his fascinating personality, as he himself declares, a victim 
of the institution of slavery. He says that masters and 
slaves are generally divided into two classes — the Oppress- 
ors and the Oppressed. He half satirically poses as one of 
the Oppressed, and indeed his patience and indulgent for- 



86 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

bearance under the small impositions of his pampered ser- 
vants, chief of whom is his impertinent valet Dolph, seemed 
to bear out the anomalous situation. 

Certain it is that he is the victim of the whims and 
caprices of a . pettish, frivolous wife ; but his own airy 
nature, and the love of his beautiful child, seem ample com- 
pensations. Into this luxurious southern home, decorated 
and beautified with all the elegances that wealth and cult- 
ure can bring together, with its richly dressed and aristo- 
cratic inmates, with its uselessly large retinue of servants 
and the wasteful extravagances and indifferent management 
which pertained to such an establishment, there comes Miss 
Ophelia, a mature maiden cousin from Vermont. She is the 
personification of New England thrift, common sense, or- 
thodoxy and practical mindedness, a sort of composite pho- 
tograph of the peculiarities and excellences of all the spin- 
ster dwellers east of the Hudson River. She is the strong- 
est possible foil to the ideas and characters of her southern 
cousins, and finds a discouragingly uncultivated field for 
her works of reform. Miss Ophelia became at once the 
recognized and accepted type of a Yankee woman. 

Marie remains still a remembrance of what southern 
women naturally became when not upheld by any sense of 
duty, personal responsibility, or the innate right feeling 
which is born to those who happily have to bear their part 
in life and, by realizing their own privileges, appreciate the 
rights of others. In the experiences of this family, with 
its diverse characters, in the conversations between Miss 
Ophelia and her cousin St. Clare, as she sits fiercely knitting 
and he reposes smoking upon a sofa, we are most naturally 






UNCLE tom's cabin. 87 

shown the various aspects, and results of the system of 
slavery. 

But while the author's ideas are thus cleverly promul- 
gated the story advances. Uncle Tom becomes the most 
trusted factotum and the steward of the St. Clare estab- 
lishment. Tom regards his handsome, volatile, young- 
master, with a strange mixture of fealty, reverence and 
fatherly solicitude. His insecure religious standing trou- 
bles the good black servant and he speaks respectful 
words of warning and remonstrance. St. Clare receives 
these admonitions with kind tolerance, which however, on 
occasions deepens into a momentary self-condemnation and 
tender appreciation of the impulses which prompt Tom to 
make them. He promises his faithful servant not to tam- 
per further with the wine which several times has sent 
him home in an unsteady condition. Miss Ophelia having 
undertaken to superintend the running of the house, begins 
to sutler the tribulations and to endure the manifold vexa- 
tions and vain attempts to adjust irreconcilable differences, 
which can only be realized and appreciated by a house- 
keeper's mind. Her awful review of the condition of the 
hidden recesses of the house, and particularly the kitchen ; 
her overhauling and re- arrangement of the store rooms, 
linen presses and china closet, her conflicts with Dinah, the 
deposed regent of this realm ; the righteous indignation 
with which she regards such careless opulence and the waste 
of the provisions, and the vivid realization of all the cir- 
cumstances calculated to wring a good house-keeper's heart, 
are inexpressibly amusing, and perhaps to some minds 
quite as convincing of the discomforts of the system of 



88 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

slavery as the most pathetic representation of the sufferings 
of the negroes could be. 

When Miss Ophelia is tried past bearing, she goes to 
have it out with St. Clare, and their talks, begun in 
indignant remonstrance on her part answered by light 
persiflage from him, proceed into earnest discussion of the 
entire subject, and end in his return to his cigar, while 
Miss Ophelia with a softened face, goes out to her duties. 
In these discussions there is concentrated the essence, the 
beginning and end of slavery as it had never before been 
presented to the world. In St. Clare, Mrs. Stowe develops 
her possibilities in the analysis of a character, quite dis- 
tinct and diverse from the several clear cut types in the 
tale. Modern portrayals of the person, motives, actions 
and varied tastes, and capabilities of a gentleman, have in 
no way detracted from this excellently well-painted picture. 
St. Clare is a born aristocrat, who is yet so far able to ex- 
tricate himself from his environment, as to see it with un- 
prejudiced eyes. Some of his comments and subtle in- 
sights into the distinctive moving springs of his class, are 
delicious. As for instance when he says, — " An aristocrat 
has no human sympathies beyond a certain line in society." 
Again, in speaking of his father, he says, "religious senti- 
ment, he had none be}^ond a veneration for God as decid- 
edly the head of the upper classes." The passage where he 
describes his mother's blessed influence is a worthy descrip- 
tion of Harriet Beecher Stowe's mother's influence as it 
was felt in her family. 

About this time Topsy comes upon the stage. — Topsy, 
the black imp, hardly to be known as a girl or boy, Topsy 
with the bare legs" and arms, the pig-tails sticking up all 



UNCLE TOMS CABIN. 89 

over her head, the bead-like eyes always seeking new mis- 
chief! She, of the unexpected and curious gambols, of the 
warped conscience, and the total lack of responsibility to 
any being ! Every street child, every day laborer, every 
huckster, thief, colporteur, parson and burglar, knows 
Topsy. They have all seen her, time and again upon the 
stage and in memory of the book and its dramatization. 
She was a revelation, an unimagined personality and char- 
acter, (not however without precedent as the original was a 
girl named Celeste, who was known to the family in Cin- 
cinnati). But her actions so constantly appealed to the 
various strings of the human heart that she remains, a 
synonym for incarnated mischief, incorrigibility, irresponsi- 
bility, fun and impish heartlessness. Quite without an idea 
of her personal relation to the principles of social rights, 
insensible to beatings, remonstrances, or any punishment 
yet devised, she became Miss Ophelia's contradiction and 
stumbling-block, St. Clare's proof of total depravity, 
Marie's strong aversion, and the torment of all the house 
servants. 

Only sweet little Eva, the angelic child who gently 
faded from earth because she had not enough gross ma- 
terial to stay, overcame the black child's stolid indiffer- 
ence to kind, well-meant reproaches, and by the melting 
force of love, touched the calloused heart, pleading effectu- 
ally with smiles and tenderness, by friendly hand-clasp and 
the breath of flowers, where stripes and bruising blows had 
failed. Gentle Eva, the immortal child of the author's 
brain, had found the answer to the question, " What is to 
be done with a human being that can be governed only by 
the lash, when that fails? " Whipping and abuse are like 



90 THE LIFE WOEK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

opiates, you have to double the dose as the sensibilities 
fail and decline. It was and is, — for we need the lesson 
still in this strange, queerly assorted life, — the power of 
love. It is the only power that can move the heart, heal 
wrongs, incite noble action and bring us a final " "Well 
done." 

In this bringing together of the two children, representa- 
tive of the extremes of society, what dramatic force and 
sense of telling situations did the author display ! It was 
as a tableau which flashed in one comprehensive scene, the 
effects of heredity and environment. The Saxon, born of 
ages of cultivation, the African, born of ages of oppression. 
There was a world of argument in the combination. It 
speaks most strongly for itself. Comments are not neces- 
sary to show between the lines volumes of deep meaning. 
We can apply it to various situations in life. 

Two years go by, and Uncle Tom lives on comfortable 
and comparatively happy. By means of a letter from George 
Shelby, a line of communication, given as well, to the 
reader of the story, we easily return to the Kentucky home, 
where Chloe works with the hope of sometime buying her 
husband back, and Mrs. Shelby keeps the place running 
with her enviable executive faculty. It is but a glimpse, 
and we take a seat upon the magician's carpet and are 
again in ]STew Orleans where we see Eva making Uncle 
Tom her chief companion and confidential friend, riding 
with him, talking upon many interesting and improving 
themes, exchanging her knowledge of polite society for his 
religious perceptions, reading to him in her melodious voice 
from the Scriptures, while he explains and expounds pas- 
sages in his own simple and clear-seeing manner. Great, 






UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 91 

black, earnest Uncle Tom, sings hymns in his heavy 
sonorous voice, while Eva listens, sometimes joining her 
clear piping treble. It is to him, her best friend and most 
appreciative companion, that Eva confides her feeling that 
she was going to die/ soon. It is with him that she 
talks of the happiness she feels in leaving this earth 
where she is always tired, and pants for breath, and suffers 
with fever and a hectic burning in her cheeks; with him 
that she longs for the rest and perfect happiness of the new 
life which she is approaching; with him that she talks of 
the glories of God and of the angels. And he, with his 
great, loving, honest heart, pierced with anguish, prays that 
it may not be so, not yet, that she may stay to minister to 
them all, where kindness and mercy and love are so sadly 
wanting. 

Have we not sobbed in uncontrollable emotion over this 
story ? Have we not seen it portrayed by living actors 
upon the stage, when no failure to rise to its possibilities, 
could mar the effect of the sentiment, when even slow 
music upon a melodeon, in provincial performances, could 
not destroy its inherent strength and beauty and pathos ? 

Shall we discuss the literary merits of this tale? Shall 
we talk of art, when its intensity of sweetness and sadness 
make tears stream from our eyes, confounding the most 
unimpressionable, and, having knocked the stilts of conven- 
tionalism from under us, let us down to the true basis of 
feeling, sentiment and truth? 

The death of Eva, with the events clustering about the 
time, the giving of Topsy by St. Clare to Miss Ophelia, his 
intention of also freeing Uncle Tom which was unfortu- 
nately postponed too long, and his own death by accident, 



92 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

follow in quick succession, and Uncle Tom and all the 
slaves of the household are left unprotected. Uncle Tom 
is finally sent to the warehouse and sold ; not back to the 
Shelbys, for they know nothing of his changing fortunes, 
not to Aunt Chloe, for she, singing over her work in the 
hope of soon making him free, lives on in happy uncon- 
sciousness of his fate. Again the reader witnesses the 
scenes of a slave mart. Again the auctioneer places human 
beings upon the block, discusses their good points as 
animals, pats the glossy brawn of the male field hands and 
lays rough hands upon the tender flesh of modest women, 
discanting upon their beauties. Emeline and her pretty 
daughter Susan are introduced and Legree, the fiend in dis- 
torted human shape, the type of all that is naturally brutal, 
warped and degraded by his trade, appears upon the scene. 
Here is his picture. 

" A little before the sale commenced, a short, broad, muscular 
man, in a checked shirt considerably open at the bosom, and pan- 
taloons much the worse for dirt and wear, elbowed his way through 
the crowd, like one who is going actively into a business ; and 
coming up to the group, began to examine them systematically. 
From the moment that Tom saw him approaching, he felt an im- 
mediate and revolting horror at him, that increased as he came 
near. He was evidently, though short, of gigantic strength. His 
round, bullet head, large, light-gray eyes, with their shaggy, 
sandy eyebrows, and stiff, wiry, sun-burned hair, were rather un- 
prepossessing items, it is to be confessed ; his large, coarse mouth 
was distended with tobacco, the juice of which, from time to time, 
he ejected from him with great decision and explosive force ; his 
hands were immensely large, hairy, sunburned, freckled, and very 
dirty, and garnished with long nails, in a very foul condition." 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 93 

Simon Legree with, the slaves he had bought at several 
auctions, among whom were Tom and Emeline, departs 
for his plantation on a Eed Eiver boat. The trans- 
formation of Tom, as far as wearing apparel could go, 
from the sleek, respectable coachman in white linen 
and broadcloth, to the plantation hand in rough clothes 
and disreputable hat and shoes, here takes place. 
Uncle Tom manages to retain his Bible while his other 
belongings are emptied from his trunk upon the deck, 
and amid much hilarity, sold to the highest bidders. In 
the character of Legree, the passage to his neglected and 
broken-down plantation, the fate of his abused slaves and 
the regime of terror and crime which he maintained, there 
is exhibited the most fearful possibilities, the most shameful 
probabilities of the institution which permitted the abso- 
lute holding of human beings, by a so-called owner. In 
this new situation is plainly demonstrated the pernicious 
workings of a system in which there is absolutely nothing 
to protect the life of a slave, but the character of the 
master. 

It has been claimed that the character of Legree is a 
frightful imagination of diabolism in human form, an exag- 
geration of malignity which could never be realized. 
Legree has been declared as unreal as Caliban or an ogre in 
a nursery tale. But Bill Sikes and the Thenardiers furnish 
as distinct and successful literary types ; and alas, have we 
hot known in the flesh, of Wirz, another result of cruel con- 
ditions, the calloused keeper of the prison den at Ander- 
sonville! That personification of ingenuity in torture, who 
while utterly devoid of mercy or sensibility to suffering, 
yet showed a strange fertility in cruel expedient and an 



94 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

enjoyment of human terror and agony, quite out of keeping 
with those benumbed sensibilities. Such a fiend was 
Legree. 

Charles Beecher wrote of a man like him upon the 
wharves of New Orleans who exhibited his fists, with 
knuckles enlarged and calloused in " knocking niggers 
down." 

The story grows more intense as we follow Tom through 
the new experiences of his life on Simon Legree's planta- 
tion. The picture deepens, grows darker and sadder, and 
the figures of the down-trodden slaves stand out distinctly 
against the gloom of the surroundings. The heavy labor 
of the field hands, the weary, soul-crushing round of work, 
work uninterrupted or relieved by one hour of pleasure or 
peaceful rest, the night grinding of the corn by tired men 
and women, who impatiently wait their turns at the hand 
mills, or in utter despair abandon the attempt to prepare 
food, preferring death to such a struggle for existence and 
only longing for the end ; the character of the woman 
Oassy, once a petted favorite of a rich and indulgent master, 
later the mother of fair and lovely children, then the aban- 
doned mistress, who came to the block and saw her chil- 
dren sold into slavery, at last the desperate creature whose 
apparent insanity had made her the dread of drivers and her 
companions in slavery, and the consort of the fiend Legree, 
who was yet an abject coward before her terrible temper, 
and unconquerable spirit ; the shameful life in prospect for 
Emeline, unless some kind fate shall interpose in her be- 
half; the brutal orgies of the degraded master, with his two 
still more degraded slaves and drivers, — all are depicted 
with ever increasing strength, and graphic power — for the 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 95 

climax of the tragedy draws near. Legree hates Uncle 
Tom as is natural when he discovers his superiority, and 
feels his unspoken disapproval. For as the author says : 
"So subtle is the atmosphere of opinion that it will make 
itself felt without words ; and the opinion even of a slave 
,may annoy a master." 

Legree realizes, by some unseen but none the less palp- 
able thought transferrence, that Tom despises him. This 
arouses all his vindictive passions, and he resolves to sub- 
due the man. With a just appreciation of the fine feelings 
of the creature whom he legally owns, he perceives that 
more degrading than punishment inflicted upon his person, 
would be compelling him to flog another, and a woman! 
This Tom refuses to do, by his calm but decided refusal 
eliciting expressions of terror from the listening slaves, who 
know too well what the result will be. Legree, at first 
dumb-founded at the disobedience, then driven to fury by 
the . evidence that he has no power over the indomitable 
courage and high spirit of the bondman, orders him to be 
whipped by the brutal fellows who have been often 
employed in this shameful office. 

Again, when Cassy and Emeline disappear, Legree 
demands of Tom their whereabouts. He declines to 
speak of them, and at his repeated refusals to disclose 
their retreat, the fiendish master orders him to be flogged 
and without mercy. He could indeed hold and tor- 
ture the defenceless body of the poor slave but his spirit 
he could not degrade. A good Yermont Judge once 
ordered a slave hunter who demanded "his property" 
to " show a bill of sale from the Almighty." Legree had 
no such warrant and his baffled ferocity expended itself 



96 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

upon the poor tenement of the great free soul. One dreads 
the denouement and yet perforce must read on. The conse- 
quences, the fatal injuries of Uncle Tom, whose spirit never 
faltered even under the terrible cutting lash of the whips — 
his hours of pain and mortal anguish as he lies on the floor 
in a shed — the ministrations by night of Cassy, whose 
unquiet soul had been moved to sweetness and hope by his 
brave suffering, and spiritual insights — and — at last, his 
death, bring the intense tale to a climax. 

While from the first page, this story has been a startling 
revelation, a marvelous sight as through a glass, of the var- 
ious aspects of life under the system of negro slavery, it is 
not until we stand over the dead body of Uncle Tom ; not 
until we feel the sublime pity of it, the tender regret and 
rising indignation of it, the swelling sense of cruel wrong, 
and the irrepressible rush of divine rage, aversion, and 
unquenchable denunciation for what made this possible — 
that the work reaches its highest- power. 

In the scarred, swollen, bleeding form orthe noble black 
man, now lying in the stillness of death, which is unlike 
any other stillness in nature ; in the holy love and trust, 
which have been the consolation and dependence of this 
poor dead creature, there is summed up, the possibili- 
ties, the capacities for joy and suffering, the patience, faith- 
fulness, docility, great hearted kindness, the noble simplic- 
ity, devotion to duty, self sacrifice and determination to do 
right, the deep religious faith and earnest Christian feeling 
of the whole African race. 

In his disfigured and excoriated body there is epitomized 
every possible argument against the institution, which for 
'political reasons, for a mistaken sense of honor, on account 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 97 

of a dim sighted valuation of principles over living issues, 
conservative souls hesitated to condemn hastily! For had 
it not had the sanction of custom, almost from the founda- 
tion of our colonial existence ! 

The arrival, too late, of young George Shelby, who has 
come to buy back his old friend, adds an exquisite touch 
of pathos ; and his burial of the remains of Uncle Tom in 
his own cloak, presents a ceremony in which the reader 
feels as a sympathetic mourner. The short interview of 
the impetuous young man, whose soul is filled with sorrow 
and regret, with Legree who makes invidious remarks as 
to the sense of making such " a fuss over a dead nigger " 
and the sudden accession of wrath which excites George to 
promptly knock him down — affords an immense satisfac- 
tion to the reader, who involuntarily finds himself in young 
Shelby's place. The story draws to a close, with the sad 
return of George Shelby to Kentucky, the breaking, of the 
intelligence to Aunt Chloe and the family of Uncle Tom's 
good master. The account of the happy situation of 
George Harris, Eliza and their child in a Canadian town, 
and the exposition through a letter from George of the 
author's idea for the colonization of Liberia, complete the 
work. 

One commences to re-read this wonderful story with a 
view to its merits as literary art. But criticism, artistic 
standpoint, even the vehicle itself, is forgotten as one is 
swept away from all conventionalities and literary tenets 
upon the surging current of mighty feeling. Uncle Tom's 
Cabin has seldom been discussed as a mere work of art. 
Human interest and sympathy so transcend the machinery 
of the work, that one quite unburdened with susceptibility 
7 



98 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

to the weal or woe of the characters, the exquisite tortures 
of mind and body, the sacred rights of living beings, must 
be the cool headed, cool hearted critic. 

It must be a technical mind which can learnedly discuss 
the work as tested by the criteria of modern art critcism ; 
a mind which can describe with a nicety, the laws of novel 
writing ; which can assert that this book is not a novel 
because it has a practical motive ; because the end is out- 
side of itself, because it carries in parallel lines the lives of 
two heroes which have no essential relation each other. 
And while we bow and say " Yes," " Yes,' 1 to these learned 
and nice analyses, we still feel that it is a novel, that it is 
artistic, that it is a work of great originality, genius, and 
perception of actual possibilities, which are worked out 
with rare discrimination and dramatic power. 

It has been the verdict of some critics who place less 
value upon the matter than the manner of a literary work, 
that the characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin are all too ex- 
treme. That they resemble, in their respective antipodal 
manifestations, (if one may be pardoned the flippancy in 
thus digesting their wise conclusions,) the historic little 
girl, with the curl on her forehead. This may be true from 
a coldly artistic reasoning, which demands that the lesser 
values shall have their representation, and which in the 
attempt tc round out and fill characters, often merely suc- 
ceeds in leveling them to a dull, uninteresting plain, where 
heroes and cowards, villains and noble actors, are so alike, 
that it requires the minutest analysis to separate them from 
each other. It was not the fashion forty years ago to de- 
tract from the force of a representation, by an undue con- 
sideration of its drawbacks and limitations. Neither were 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 99 

characters emasculated as they are often to-day, by a finical 
anxiety as to their minor and contradictory traits. Neither 
was it at all to the taste or disposition of Harriet Beecher 
Stowe to weaken her own, or the reader's convictions, by 
citing all the possible modifications of her case. She had no 
inclination to reduce her strong points to the polished level 
obtained by many writers. Their indecision (which they 
mistake for liberality) prevents them from making an en- 
daring impress upon the age. Her work was that of the 
astronomer who looks at fixed stars through his telescope, 
as compared with the microscopic nicety, which induces the 
purveyors of details to call our attention to unessentials in 
the modern novel. And yet Mrs. Stowe's characters are 
very like people we know, whose ruling passions quite ob- 
scure their minor traits, whether good or bad. 

One fact is quite remarkable, it is, that this story is entirely 
without a lover. No tale of youthful passion holds it together 
with delicate threads of sympathy, no hint of the old yet ever 
new spring time of virgin love, is presented. Of pure and 
holy affection there is a fullness ; of marital, filial and broth- 
erly love, most beautiful instances; but no sweet lady is 
introduced to be the reward and pride of young George Shel- 
by, and no dark-skinned lover complicates the situation 
where pretty Emeline is concerned. In Uncle Tom's Cabin 
Mrs. Stowe regarded life, not in the light of hope or pleasant 
anticipation. She wrote of a terrible wrong as it existed, 
and with the earnest purpose, to make others see it as she did. 
It is indeed a nondescript work of fiction. No rules or 
canons which apply to average and mediocre creations, in 
any way fit it. Some works and actions are too low and 
common for conventional criticism; this is too high and 



100 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

apart to be brought under usual comparisons. But granting 
its literary limitations it must be conceded that, aside from 
its powerful moral purpose, which obtained where thousands 
of works of polished rhetoric had failed, and "moulded" 
the heart of millions into one," the unprecedentedly popular 
impression it made, was due to the true art with which facts 
and impressions were assimilated, fused and set forth. 

It was slave life: not something it was like, but the life 
itself, shown to us through the clear medium of this grand 
woman's intellect. Can art do more ? 

It is true that this work had the advantage of a new field 
of exploration, and that it was an unfolding to the world, of 
a phase of political and social life, into which the novelist 
had not penetrated, nor leveled and mannerized the actions 
and characters. The broad poetic features of life upon 
which romance relies, were the same, but the situation was 
peculiar, and the treatment fresh, vigorous, and entirely free 
from conventionalism. 

The state of political feeling which prevailed at the time 
of the writing of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," can hardly be ap- 
preciated by the present generation. The lapse of years, 
and the anxiety then felt, being relieved by the adjustment 
of the difficulty, has (in a way) blunted the sensibilities of 
modern readers to the evil which its author dared to attack. 
But there is nothing ephemeral in her thoughts and methods. 
The sentiment of ; ' Uncle Tom's Cabin " will be as true and 
moving one hundred years hence, as it was forty years ago. 
Mrs. Stowe's fun is intrinsically humorous. The comicality 
of her situations endures. It is not dependent upon style, 
time, or nationality. 

Her pathos touches the deepest springs of human sym- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 101 

pathy, moving the heart to tenderer throb for all humanity, 
because she so warms it for the weal of woe of her char- 
acters. 

Her philosophy is based upon tenable ground, and withal, 
has a touch of indulgence for the error which she condemns, 
and a sense of the excusable mistakes of finite beings, 
emanating from her own generous spirit, which after all 
dominates her strongest conclusions. Her reasoning is mas- 
culine in its logic, a thing quite different from the woman's 
reason of "gentle Will Shakespeare" which "thinks him 
so, because, she thinks him so." Its sequence is convincing, 
building one proposition upon another, until a well con- 
structed argument appears, which stands because well 
founded. Mrs. Stowe impressed the peculiarities of her 
personality upon her work. Honesty, directness, grasp of 
essential points, and good-humored toleration of human 
limitations, were remarkable, while yet she launched a thun- 
derbolt against the system of negro slavery. 

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is full of thought which. is deeper 
than speech. It glows with feeling which is deeper than 
thought. This work, had she written no other, would in 
itself be a sufficient passport to literary immortality. 

While Mrs. Stowe was far from advocating disunion or a 
revolution — and hers was not a political effort but one put 
forth for moral suasion — it must be remembered, that com- 
mon sense as well as the law, presumes that a person intends 
the natural consequences of his actions. Therefore in this 
soul stirring effort against slavery, Harriet Beecher Stowe 
proved herself an Abolitionist who looked earnestly to the 
end, let the means be what they might. 

It proved to be an agent more powerful than Garris- 



102 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Liberator, more potent than the poems of Whittier, more 
persuasive than the speeches of Phillips and Sumner. As 
an eminent critic said ; " It presented the thing concretely 
and dramatically, and in particular it made the Fugitive 
Slave law forever impossible to enforce." 

Statesmen still think however, that neither the influence 
of this work — well calculated as it was to awaken the right 
feeling of the people — nor the speeches and writings of all 
the other moralists of the age, would have wrought the 
emancipation of the American slaves, had not the madness 
of the South upon various political questions, precipitated 
a series of events, of which Lincoln's proclamation was the 
glorious culmination. This question must remain a matter 
of personal opinion, as plainly, no one can measure or weigh 
moral force. Mrs. Stowe never expected to see the slaves 
free. It seemed impossible in view of the situation, that 
emancipation could come so soon. But " God disposes." 

Men lived years in each day during that pregnant period, 
and the thing was accomplished, while yet it was supposed 
to halt in the dimness of future years. 



CHAPTER V. 

TEMPORARY PROSTRATION OF MRS. STOWE AFTER THE COM- 
PLETION OF "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." HER DESPAIR OF 
REACHING THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE. HER LETTERS TO 
PROMINENT PERSONAGES AT HOME AND ABROAD. REPLIES 
FROM QUEEN VICTORIA AND THE ROYAL CONSORT, T. B. 
MACAULEY, CHARLES KINGLEY, THE EARL OF SHAFTES- 
BURY, HON. ARTHUR HELPS, ARCHBISHOP WHATELEY, FRE- 
DERCA BREMER, MADAME GEORGE SANDS, WHITTIER, GAR- 
RISON, HENRY WARD BEECHER, HARRIET MARTINEAU AND 
OTHERS. THE EFFECT OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN " ON THE 
SOUTH. ENORMOUS CIRCULATION OF THE BOOK. TRANS- 
LATIONS INTO MORE THAN TWENTY LANGUAGES. THE 
COLLECTION OF EDITIONS AND VERSIONS IN THE BRITISH 
MUSEUM LIBRARY. DESCRIPTIONS OF CURIOUS SPECIMENS 
IN THE POSSESSION OF THE AUTHOR AT HARTFORD, CONN. 
INSTANCES OF ITS EFFECTS UPON THE MORAL AND RELIG- 
IOUS OPINIONS OF THE WORLD. REV. CHARLES E. STOWE'S 
REPORT OF ITS AMERICAN SALE DURING 1887. AN AC- 
COUNT GIVEN BY THE EDITOR OF THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY 
OF MRS. STOWE'S FIRST ATTENDANCE AT THE THEATRICAL 
REPRESENTATION OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." 

Not until the last chapters of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " 
were written, and that eloquent appeal to the people of the 
United States which ends the book was finished, did Mrs. 
Stowe falter in her task. Not until the last sheets were 

103 



104 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

folded and sent to the Post Office by a trusty messenger, did 
she realize how great had been the strain upon her body, 
heart and mind. It was only when the last page of proof 
was examined and corrected, that the exaltation and crea- 
tive fire which had for so many months possessed the 
author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," fell and died out, leaving 
her in despair, trembling and quite cast down. Because 
she feared the results to her personally, because she dreaded 
impending events, because she lost belief in the truth and 
justice of the cause which she had thus presented ? Not 
for an instant. It was that it seemed so hopeless to reach 
the hearts of the people, so futile to remonstrate and urge 
a turning to the right, so impossible to break down the 
greed, prejudice and conventionalism which hedged in this 
system. For some days she lay with closed eyes, inert and 
plunged in reactionary feeling which destroyed hope and 
courage. But not for long. Her spirit rose. She felt that 
she must give her work, if possible, a hearing with the 
best minds of the age. She must leave nothing undone, 
which even remotely promised to further the success of 
her book. 

Consequently, she occupied her time for several weeks 
writing letters, and when the book appeared sent a copj' of 
it with her letter to the English Eoyal Consort, Prince 
Albert. There was another to Thomas Babington Macaulay, 
whose father, Zachary Macaulay, she knew to have been 
an an ti -slavery laborer, of whom Mrs. Stowe afterwards 
said, " whose place in the hearts of the English Christians 
was little below saintship." Her book was sent, with the 
hope that the son might sympathize. 

Charles Dickens had more than once expressed his sym- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 105 

pathy with the slave, and to him she wrote, sending her 
book. She addressed another appeal and copy of " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," to Charles Kingsley, and another to Lord 
Carlisle, who had been influential in giving freedom to the 
blacks in the British colonies. 

" Uncle Tom's Cabin " was published in book 
form in March, 1852. The despondency and uncer- 
tainty of the author as to whether any one would read her 
book, was soon dispelled. Ten thousand copies were sold 
in a few days, and over three hundred thousand within a 
year. Eight powerful presses running day and night for 
months were barely able to keep pace with the demand for 
it. It was read everywhere, by all classes of people. 
Talk of it filled the atmosphere. Heated discussions occas- 
ioned by it, resounded in cottage, farm-house, business 
offices and palatial residences, all over the land. The pity, 
distress, and soul -felt indignation in which it had been 
written, were by it transferred to the minds and consciences 
of her readers, and the antagonism it everywhere engen- 
dered, threw the social life of this country and England, 
into angry effervescence through all its stratas. 

Echoes of its clarion tones came back to her in the quiet 
home at Brunswick, returning as they had struck, the 
world with clashing dissonance or loud alarum or low sweet 
tones of human feeling. 

Letters, letters of all sizes, colors, direction and kinds 
of chirography, astonished the Post Master at Bruns- 
wick, by their countless numbers, and the author began 
to feel the nation's pulse. Friends applauded, remon- 
strated, or vociferously deprecated her course. Literary 
associates praised the technique of the story, but thought 



106 • THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the subject ill chosen. Abolitionists wrote with irrepressi- 
ble enthusiasm, and praised God that she had been raised 
up to do this thing. Politicians angrily expressed their 
amazement, that her husband should permit her to commit 
this incendiarism, which might burst into a conflagration 
that would dissolve the national union. Slave-holders 
heaped reproaches and contumely upon her, and badly 
spelled productions, evincing cowardly ruffianism, were 
taken with tongs by her husband and dropped, almost un- 
read into the fire. 

On one occasion Prof. Stowe opened an envelope which 
contained a negro's ear, pinned to a bit of card-board. 
Accompanying this sickening thing, were a few words 
scrawled, which hinted that this was one of the effects of 
her would-be defense of the "D — n niggers." This was 
never seen by his wife, as it, with all other offensive letters 
were speedily destroyed by him in his anxiety to shield 
her from the unpleasant results of her noble work. 

A friend of Mrs. Stowe's favorite brother, has recently 
said that Henry had threatened never to read "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," but couldn't help it, cried over it and wrote 
to her: "If you ever write another such book I will kill 
you, if I have to go around the world to find you. You 
have taken more out of me, than a whole year of preach- 
ing. I wish that all the slave-holders in the South, and all 
their Northern sympathizers with them, were shut up for a 
century, and obliged to read about 'Uncle Tom.' " 

In May, 1852, Mrs. Stowe, very much in need of rest and 
recreation, visited New York. It was at the time of Jenny 
Lind's second visit to this country. She was the idol of 
the hour- Women listened to her matchless voice with 



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UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 107 

tears, men were moved to irrepressible enthusiasm, which 
found vent in draggiug her carriage, heaped with flowers, 
from the Academy of Music to her hotel. Tickets for her 
concerts were bought weeks in advance, and Mrs. Stowe 
found that seats were not to be had at any price. But 
somehow the young Swedish vocalist heard of Mrs. Stowe's 
application, and immediately sent her tickets for two of the 
best seats in the house, accompanying them with a charm- 
ing letter, in which she very ingenuously and gracefully, 
thanked her for the pleasure she had felt in reading her 
wonderful book. The letter, with its delicate hand writ- 
ing, and charmingly fluent, if unconventional English, 
remains one of the valued souvenirs of the woman and the 
time. 

The cheering testimony came in from fugitive slaves, 
that people were more kind to them, after reading "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin." In one respect, however the author's expecta- 
tions were amusingly controverted by facts. She had rep- 
resented slave-holders at their best, had taken cognizance 
of their difficulties and limitations, had admitted their 
noble traits of character, and really believed that while the 
radical Abolitionists might think the picture altogether too 
tame and mild in its dealings with slave-holders, her book 
would be, as a friend in the South assured her it must be," a 
great pacificator; which will unite both North and South." 
To her astonishment it was the extreme Abolitionists who 
received it with acclamation, and the solid South who rose 
up against it ;'and so far from leveling and smoothing away 
the differences of opinion between them, it drew an impas- 
sable line, fixing a barrier of facts upon either side of 
which must all the people array themselves. 



108 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

In May, 1852, Whittier wrote to Garrison : — " What a 
glorious work Harriet Beecher Stowe has wrought. Thanks 
for the Fugitive Slave law. Better for slavery that that law 
had never been enacted, for it gave occasion for 'Uncle 
Tom's Cabin.' " 

In a letter from Garrison to Mrs. Stowe he said, that he 
estimated the value of anti-slavery writing by the abuse it 
brought. "Since Uncle Tom's Cabin was published" he 
adds, " all the defenders of slavery have let me alone and 
are spending their strength in abusing you." 

Harriet Martineau wrote sententiously " I am glad to find 
Mrs. Stowe is held up to execration in the South, along 
with myself and Mrs. Chapman." 

Alternating with and accompanying packages of letters 
from the illustrious, the celebrated, and the wise of the world 
were irate and abusive epistles from the brutal traders and 
slave-holders of the South. Some of these were a disgust- 
ing mixture of blasphemy and obscenity, and all rang with 
cruelty and brutal invective. 

Eesponses came from over the sea. Mrs. Stowe was in- 
formed that Prince Albert and the Queen had read her 
story with the most intense interest. Charles Dickens 
wrote from London in July, and while courteously suggest- 
ing that she went too far and sought to prove too much — a 
natural criticism from one who had not seen slavery as it 
was in America — he closed by saying : " Your book is 
worthy of any head and any heart that ever inspired a 
book. I am your debtor, and thank you most fervently 
and sincerely." 

Macaulay wrote, thanking her for the volume, assuring 
her of his high respect for the talents and for the benevo- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 109 

lence of the writer. Four years later the same illustrious 
author, essayist and historian wrote to Mrs. Stowe: "I 
have just returned from Italy, where your fame seems to 
throw that of all other writers into the shade. There is no 
place where ' Uncle Tom,' transformed into ' II Zio Tom,' is 
not to be found." 

From Lord Carlisle she received a long and earnest 
epistle in which he says he felt that slavery was by far the 
"topping" question of the world and age, and that he re- 
turned his "deep and solemn thanks to Almighty God, 
who has led and enabled you to write such a book." 

The Eev. Charles Kingsley, in the midst of illness and 
anxiety, sent his thanks saying, " Your book will do more 
to take away the reproach from your great and growing 
nation, than many platform agitations and speechifyings." 

Said Lord Palmerston, "I have not read a novel for 
thirty years; but I have read that book three times, not only 
for the story, but for the statesmanship of it." 

Lord Cockburn declares: "She has done more for 
humanity than was ever before accomplished by any single 
book of fiction." 

In December of the same memorable year, 1852, the 
Earl of Shaftesbury, a man who spent a lifetime in endeav- 
ors to lift the crushing burdens from the laboring classes 
of England, and had redeemed from the slavery of the col- 
lieries and the mines, hundreds of women and children, 
who were degraded almost below belief, in the horrors of 
their situation and labor, introduced himself by letter to 
the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," commending various 
good points in her story, and testifying to his realization 
from experience, of the truth of certain characters. He 



110 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

waived the parti cularizati on of the various beauties, "singu- 
lar, original and lasting, which shine throughout the 
work," and assured her of his sincere admiration and re- 
spect. 

About the same time Mrs. Stowe received a letter from 
Hon. Arthur Helps, accompanying a review of her work 
written by himself, for Fraser's Magazine. 

Her reply to this letter, having been shown to Arch- 
bishop Whateley, elicited a letter from him, complimenting 
her, and informing her that he had negotiated for articles 
from very able hands upon the same subject for the " Edin- 
burgh" and "North British" Eeviews, both of which had 
a wide circulation and potent influence. 

This was surely most welcome evidence that the book 
had found powerful friends and sturdy support on English 
shores. Mr. Sampson Low, afterwards Mrs. Stowe's 
English publisher, wrote of its success in England, saying 
that from April to December, six months after its publica- 
tion, forty editions had been issued, in all forms, from the 
handsome, illustrated one, at fifteen shillings, to the six- 
pence pamphlet. He estimated that the number then 
circulated in England and its colonies, would aggregate 
one million and a half. 

Meanwhile the book had found its way to the North of 
Europe, and among the precious assurances of its worth 
was a letter from sweet Fredericka Bremer at Stockholm. 
It was written in her own charming style, and every 
sentence seemed to have been fused in the genial warmth 
of her woman's heart. 

The Paris Temps has recently said : " Even if we go back 
to Alexandre Dumas's ' Musketeers ' and to Eugene Sue's 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Ill 

4 Mysteries of Par-is ' we still find that ' Uncle Tom ' sur- 
passed them all in the intense interest awakened. Every 
paper and publisher in Paris wanted it, and three of our 
dailies published it simultaneously. So great was the 
popular excitement that a reader of the Steele would hurry 
out and buy a copy of the Presse in the hope that it might 
give more of the unfinished chapter." 

We have ministerial authority for the statement that the 
reading of Uncle Tom's Cabin in Paris created a great de- 
mand among the people for Bibles. " Purchasers eagerly 
inquired if they were buying the real Bible — Uncle Tom's 
Bible. The same result was produced in Belgium and 
elsewhere. Could the most eloquent preacher do more than 
this?" 

Henrick Heine, whom no one could suspect of such pre- 
dilections, after describing his gropings and flounderings 
amid the unsatisfactory speculations of German philosophy, 
tells us how he at length come to quit Hegel and to read 
the Bible with Uncle Tom, finding in the simple faith of 
the poor slave a higher wisdom than in the great philoso- 
phers' dialectics. 

Madame George Sand, a woman of rare intellectual 
strength, presented it to the reading public of France in a 
glowing review, which is doubtless one of the worthiest 
tributes to the author and the work, which has ever seen 
the light. It was vital with spontaneous enthusiasm, and 
while recognizing certain artistic defects, with true judgment 
as to the essentials, Madame Sand regards these as noth- 
ing, in comparison with the persuasive force and compell- 
ing strength of the story. George Sand declares that the 
children " are the true heroes of Mrs. Stowe's work." 



112 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Reviews and critics everywhere were speedily busy with 
the book, discussing it from standpoints as various as 
human opinions, in lights as many and different as the im- 
perceptible gradations of the prismatic colors or the shades 
between black and white which Goethe ingeniously, if erro- 
neously, took to be the scientific explanation of color. 

Within a year " Uncle Tom's Cabin " was scattered all 
over the world. Translations were made into all the prin- 
cipal languages and into several obscure dialects, in nurn - 
ber variously estimated from twenty to forty. The librarian 
of the British Museum, with an interest and enterprise 
which might well put our own countrymen to blush, has 
made a collection which is unique and very remarkable in 
the history of books. American visitors may see there, 
thirty -five editions of the original English and the complete 
text, and eight of abridgements and adaptations. Of trans- 
lations into different languages there are nineteen ; viz., 
Armenian 1 ; Bohemian 1 ; Danish 2 distinct versions ; 
Dutch 1 ; Finnish 1 ; Flemish 1 : French 8 distinct versions 
and 2 dramas ; German 5 distinct versions and 4 abridge- 
ments ; Hungarian 1 complete version, 1 for children and 1 
versified abridgement ; Illyrian 2 distinct versions ; Italian 
1 ; Polish 2 distinct versions ; Portuguese 1 ; Roman or 
Modern Greek 1 ; Russian 2 distinct versions ; Spanish 6 dis- 
tinct versions ; Swedish 1 ; Wallachian 2 distinct versions ; 
Welsh 3 distinct versions. 

Of the " Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin " there are seven edi- 
tions in different languages, of works on the subject of 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin " there are eight, separately published. 
Of reviews of it there are forty-nine. But this list is by no 
means complete. Many editions and translations have been 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 113 

impossible to procure, but the English speaking world owes 
thanks to Mr. Bullen and his coadjutors for their successful 
collection of so many versions. 

In Italy, " the powers that be " published an edition in 
which all allusions to Christ were changed to the Virgin 
Mary, " a piece of craftiness," says our authority, " that 
argues better for the book than for its mutilators." 

Many foreign publishers and translators sent their 
reproductions to the author and in the library of Mrs. 
Stowe's house at Hartford, the writer has seen many 
most interesting and curious editions. At intervals since 
the publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" the author has 
received editions of her work from the most unexpected 
sources, and the more interesting ones have been preserved, 
though with that characteristic lack of appreciation of her 
own greatness, and the carelessness which familiarity and 
close associations with a famous author, seem to make pos- 
sible, neither Mrs. Stowe nor her ohildren appear to have 
invested them with high value, and when asked for by the 
present writer, a few of them were found after some search 
on the shelves in the back of a closet, scattered about and 
in imperfect preservation. 

Among them were specimens of several of the French 
editions, by various translators, and a few of the Ger- 
man issues. There were numerous Italian editions 
Spanish and Cuban, Dutch, Swedish and Danish. One 
from Abertawy, India, in the provincial dialect; one 
in Polish ; and two which were found published on the 
island of Java in the Dutch language, an 18mo pub- 
lished at Sooraligia at the east end of the island, and an 
octavo brought out at Batavia. These were forwarded to 



114 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Mrs. Stowe by a missionary, the Rev. Samuel W. Bonney, 
who found them in this out-of-the-way place, with a letter 
written on the good ship " Comet " one hundred miles south 
of Java. There was one which seemed to be all consonants, 
chiefly L's, Ws and Y's in the Welsh. This was illustrated 
by George Cruikshank in his most peculiar style. Those 
in the Russian, of which there were several, were pictured 
with the most astonishing and un-American negroes and 
drivers, imaginable. 

There is one very rare and valuable, in Armenian, 
translated by one of the monks in the convent at Venice. 
The hieroglyphics which convey written ideas in this 
language, are most obscure and unfamiliar. 

There was one, received from an unknown hand, which 
is in a language of which the family had no information. 
Prof. Stowe with his knowledge of philology could not 
guess at it, until some student of uncommon lore pro- 
nounced it to be one of the least known of the Hungarian 
dialects. 

Some of the early English editions were quaint and inter- 
esting ; one, a penny sheet, in print so small as to be ruin- 
ous to the eyesight. Other cheap English editions were 
more attractive, but all had illustrations which were in- 
tensely English, and convey to the American reader no 
similitude of scenes in the South. Many of these editions, 
numbering some seventy-five, came to the author with the 
compliments of the publishers, (it is not recorded whether 
in many cases their acknowledgments went so far as the 
paying of a royalty) and many were rich and costly, while 
others are in pasteboard or the penny sheet. 

The Rev. Dr. Dwight, an eminent American missionary, 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 115 

wrote from Constantinople to Prof. Stowe regarding the 
Armenian translation in September, 1855, three years and 
one half after the publication of the great book, as follows : 

" Uncle Tom's Cabin in the Armenian language ! Who would 
have thought it? I do not suppose your good wife when she 
wrote that book, thought she was going to missionate it among 
the sons of Haig in all their dispersions, following them along the 
banks of the Euphrates, sitting down with them in their towns and 
villages under the shade of hoary Ararat, traveling with them in 
their wanderings even to India and China. But I have it in my 
hands in the Armenian of the present day, the same language in 
which I speak and think and dream. Now do not suppose this is 
any of my work, or that of any missionary in the field. The 
translation has been made and the book printed at Venice by a 
fraternity of Catholic Armenian Monks perched there on the Is- 
land of St. Lazarus. It is in two volumes, neatly printed with 
plates, I think translated from the French. It has not been in 
any respect materially altered and when it is so, not on account 
of religious sentiment. The account of the negro prayer and ex- 
hortation meetings is given in full, though the translator, not 
knowing what we mean by people's becoming Christians, took 
pains to insert at the bottom of the page that at these meetings of" 
the negroes, great effects were sometimes produced by the warm, 
hearted exhortations and prayers, and it often happened that 
heathen negroes embraced Christianity on the spot. 

" One of your former scholars is now in my house studying Ar- 
menian, and the book I advised him to take as the best for the 
language is this ' Uncle Tom's Cabin.' " 

Good Mr. Thomas Watts, the librarian next preceding 
Mr. Bullen of the British Museum, the one who first sug- 
gested making a collection of the various editions and trans- 



116 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

lations, wrote Prof. Stowe many interesting facts regarding 
the book and said : 

*' The translation of the same text by thirteen different transla- 
tors at precisely the same epoch of a language is a circumstance 
perhaps altogether unprecedented, and it is not one likely to re- 
cur, as the tendency of modern alteration in the law of copyright 
is to place restrictions on the liberty of translators. The posses- 
sion too, of such a book as ' Uncle Tom's Cabin ' is very differ- 
ent from that of such a book as ' Thomas a Kempis ' in the in- 
formation it affords to the student of a language. There is every 
variety of style, from that of animated narration and passionate 
wailing to that of the most familiar dialogue, and dialogue not 
onlv in the language of the upper classes but of the lowest. The 
student who has once mastered 'Uncle Tom' in Welsh or Wal- 
lachian, is not likely to meet any further difficulties in his progress 
through Welsh or Wallachian prose." 

Thus it appears that this book was destined to stand 
pre-eminent as an educator, not- only morally but techni- 
cally. 

It is related that during the season following the publica- 
tion of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" a kind-hearted gentleman was 
staying over night at one of the New York hotels. After 
retiring to his room his attention was arrested by a sound 
as of some one in the next apartment, a strong man, sob- 
bing and moaning. With occasional periods of quiet, the 
sorrowful sounds were prolonged even after he had gone to 
bed. At last moved to pity by the evident suffering of a 
fellow mortal, he arose, found it past midnight, and going 
to the wall rapped upon it and asked, " My friend, what is 
the matter ? Are you ill or in any trouble that I can re- 
lieve ? Shall I call for medical aid ? " 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 117 

After a slight pause the voice replied, though choked 
with convulsive sobs, " No. No, a doctor wouldn't do me 
any good. I am reading ' Uncle Tom's Cabin.' " 

" Ah ! " said the good man who was a friend of the slave 
" I am sorry— no, glad. Weep on, my friend, and when 
the time comes, act upon what you are learning." 

Eufus Choate, the brilliant lawyer, who, from his quali- 
ties, was naturally conservative, — even through his respect 
for the laws, a strong pro-slavery man— read "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," as all needs must do who would be informed upon 
the latest and most powerful condemnation of the " sys- 
tem." He wept over it in spite of himself, and slamming 
down the book exclaimed angrily : " There ! That will add 
two thousand more to the rufY-scufY Abolitionists." As it 
proved this estimate was a moderate one. 

Seeing that the great desire of her heart, the awakening 
of the Christian people, had begun as a direct result of her 
work, and that various petitions and remonstrances had 
within a few months poured in upon Congress from the 
Middle and Western states, and that as many as one hun- 
dred and twenty-five remonstrances had already appeared 
from the ministers of the six New England states, Mrs. 
Stowe conceived the idea of a mammoth Memorial, so en- 
grossed as to present the original signatures, and heading 
of each petition, protesting " in the name of Almighty God 
against the proposed extension of the domain of slavery in 
the territory of the United States." 

She suggested it to Dr. H. M. Dexter, editor of The Con- 
gregationalism through whose agency the heading was pre- 
pared at a meeting of the Boston ministers. The names of 
3,050 New England clergymen were obtained and the memor- 



118 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ial, a monster petition two hundred feet long, was presented 
to Congress. 

Charles Sumner, then fresh in his seat in the Senate, 
thanked the ministers for their interposition, adding in his 
inspiriting voice, "In the days of the Kevolution, John 
Adams, yearning for independence, said, 'Let the pulpit 
thunder against oppression ' and the pulpits ' thundered.' 
The time has come for them to thunder again." 

In the present age of the world and condition of literary 
criticism, it has sometimes seemed difficult to understand 
the phenomenal popularity of this work, but is only 
because in our supposed familiarity with it, we have for- 
gotten its strength, its graphic power, its deep philosophy, 
its rare humor. While negro slavery has receded rapidly 
into the past, in the more than twenty years since the proc- 
lamation of Lincoln, and another generation has come 
upon the stage; while we are in our turn, absorbed with 
the burning questions of the present day, and naturally 
prone to undervalue those that are past, it needs but a re- 
perusal of this great work to carry us back into the very 
seeth and foam of the agitation of fort}' years ago. It is 
only in realizing how potent it is with its readers of the 
reconstructed Union of to-day — a Union which is fairer 
and brighter for the troubles and sadness of the past — that 
we can estimate the momentum which this intellectual 
work carried with it all over the civilized world. 

A correspondent, writing of the tardy abolition of slav- 
ery in Brazil, which held its chattels after the sister repub- 
lics of S. America had given them freedom, recently says : 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a book that still goes marching 
on. Down in Brazil the emancipation of the slaves was 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 119 

mainly due to an editor who kept his paper red hot with 
abolition arguments. He did not have much success until 
finally he printed a translation of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 
Then the people waked up. They cried over the story, 
and raised such a protest against slavery that the govern- 
ment was forced to abolish it." 

Having freed her mind and heart of the weight of 
anxiety and responsibility which bore upon it, having 
eased her own sympathies in great measure by transfer- 
ring from herself to her army of readers, the freight of woe 
which weighed her down and would not be lightened until 
she had spoken — Mrs. Stowe returned quietly to the duties 
of domestic life. Her baby boy then a year old, proceeded 
with the succession of small ailments which infantile man 
finds ready to meet him in this difficult world. The 
dreaded crisis of teething in the second summer was upon 
him, the older children demanded constant attention, and 
the mother's sewing was sadly in arrears. The two older 
daughters, nearly fifteen years of age, were entering young 
womanhood with alert and quickened senses, their even- 
ings were spent in conversation and listening to readings 
from the best English authors by Professor Stowe, while 
the little mother patched, and darned, ripped, turned, 
pressed and made over innumerable garments and began 
to think of sending the twin girls to boarding school. 

The author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " knew with glad sur- 
prise, and a sort of awe of her own performance, of the 
wonderful sale of her book. She received and read hun- 
dreds of letters with j, deep sense of gratitude that the good 
seed had fallen upon such unexpectedly rich places. With 
a singular modesty which she has ever since maintained — 



120 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

a modesty which was superior to, and not to be lessened by 
the praise which poured in upon her, and has been poured 
in such precious measure at her feet even until now — Mrs. 
Stowe never thought of the work as a credit to her literary 
powers, but only with an humble thankfulness that she 
had been chosen the instrument by which God had unfolded 
the right. 

At the end of the first six months, Professor Stowe one 
day tore open a letter from Mr. Jewett, the publisher of 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin," and found enclosed a check for ten 
thousand dollars, which the sender begged him to accept 
as the first installment of the author's royalty on " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin." " Why, Harriet," said he, "it is more money 
than I ever saw in all my life." 

The sum which was now in their hands would indeed, 
if placed at the usual rate of interest, yield a yearly income 
which would largely augment the salary of Professor 
Stowe. It meant comfort, intellectual possibilities, aes- 
thetic gratifications, which they had never dreamed of as 
for them. The next six months brought a similar sum, 
and for thirty-seven years the income from " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin" has not ceased, but brought not only the temporal 
good things of life to its author and her family, but the com- 
forting assurance that the heart power, the spirit of love and 
good will to men which is embodied, still thrills responsive 
in human hearts, still carries a throb of pity and kindness 
to a million breasts, still works on, imperishable, as 
intrinsic goodness must ever be, sweetening and brighten- 
ing the world. 

In answer to an inquiry made by the present writer as 
to the number of copies of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" sold 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 121 

since its appearance, Eev. Charles E. Stowe wrote Dec. 
28th, 1887 : "I have no kind of a notion as to the number 
of copies of Uncle Tom sold since the first. Since last May, 
there have been twelve thousand two hundred and twenty- 
five copies sold. 

"The edition is completely exhausted, so when new 
copies were wanted to sell at the Plymouth Church fair 
in Brooklyn the other day, there were none to be had." 

A rough estimate shows that the steady sale of Uncle 
Tom's Cabin was, in 1887, at the rate of fifteen hundred 
copies a month. It will be understood that Mr. Stowe 
spoke of the American edition alone. 

To the Hon. Francis H. Underwood, LL. D., at present 
United States Consul at Glasgow, we are indebted for the 
following account of Mrs. Stowe's first visit to a dramatic 
representation of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Having been the 
projector of the Atlantic Monthly and then acting as man- 
aging editor, it fell to him and his wife to entertain its con- 
tributors, and Mrs. Stowe was the recipient of many cour- 
tesies from them. 

In the winter of 1852 or 1853 a dramatic version of "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin" was performed at the National Theatre, Boston — 
a fine, large theatre, in the wrong place — that is to say, in one of 
the worst districts of Boston. It was burned a few years later, 
and never rebuilt. The dramatization was not very artistic, and 
the scenes introduced were generally the most ghastly ones of the 
painful story. Of the lightness and gayety of the book there was 
no sign. The actors were fairly good, but none of them remark- 
able, except the child who personated Eva, and the woman, (Mrs. 
Howard) who played Topsy. Mrs. Howard was beyond compari- 
son the best representative of the dark race I ever saw. She was 



122 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

a "-0111118 whose method no one could describe. In every look, 
gesture and tone there was an intuitive revelation of the strange, 
capricious and fascinating creature which Mrs. Stowe had con- 
ceived. 

I asked Mrs. Stowe to go with me to see the play. She had 
some natural reluctance, considering the position her father had 
taken against the theatre, and considering the position of her hus- 
band as a preacher ; but she also had some curiosity as a woman 
and as an author to see in flesh and blood the creations of her 
imagination. I think she told me she had never been in a theatre 
in her life. I procured the manager's box, and we entered pri- 
vately, she being well muffled. She sat in the shade of the cur- 
tains of" our box, and watched the play attentively. I never saw 
such delight upon a human face as she displayed when she first 
comprehended the full power of Mrs. Howard's Topsy. She 
scarcely spoke during the evening ; but her expression was elo- 
quent, — smiles and tears succeeding each other through the 
whole. 

It must have been for her a thrilling experience to see her 
thoughts bodied upon the stage, at a time when any dramatic 
representation must have been to her so vivid. Drawn along by the 
threads of her own romance, and inexperienced in the deceptions 
of the theatre, she could not have been keenly sensible of the faults 
of the piece or the shortcomings of the actors. 

I remember that in one scene Topsy came quite close to our 
box, with her speaking eyes full upon Mrs. Stowe's. Mrs. Stowe's 
face showed all her vivid and changing emotions, and the actress 
must surely have divined them. The glances when they met and 
crossed reminded me of the supreme look of Rachel when she 
repeated that indescribable Helas! There was but a slight wooden 
barrier between the novelist and the actress — but it was enough ! 
I think it a matter of regret that they never met. 

The Eliza of the evening was a reasonably good actress, and 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 123 

skipped over the floating ice of the Ohio River with frantic 
agility. 

The Uncle Tom was rather stolid — such a man as I have seen 
preaching among the negroes when I lived in Kentucky. 

It was afterwards put upon the stage at the Boston 
Museum in a more worthy presentation, and at the same 
period ran 150 nights in New York before packed houses. 
Dramatic versions, from those on the grandest scale to par- 
lor dialogues, flooded the market, and thousands who might 
never have been reached by the book, were moved and 
thrilled by that potent educator, the theatre. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PROFESSOR STOWE'S ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHAIR OF SACRED 
LITERATURE AT ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. THE 
FAMILY REMOVAL TO ANDOVER IN SEPTEMBER, 1852. 
THE AUTHOR OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN AS A PRACTICAL 
MANAGER OF DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. HER EFFICIENCY IN 
HOUSE DECORATIONS AND MILLINERY. THE " KEY TO 
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." NINETY THOUSAND COPIES SOLD IN 
THE UNITED STATES IN ONE MONTH. MRS. STOWE'S PER- 
SONAL APPEARANCE AS GIVEN BY HERSELF, AND AN INTI- 
MATE ACQUAINTANCE. MRS. STOWE'S EUROPEAN TRIP. 
HER RECEPTION AT LIVERPOOL. A BREAKFAST IN HONOR 
OF THE AMERICAN AUTHOR. THE CONGENIAL ATMOS- 
PHERE OF SOCIETY IN LIVERPOOL. THE MEETING GIVEN 
BY THE LIVERPOOL LADIES' ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. PRE- 
SENTATION OF A TESTIMONIAL TO MRS. STOWE. THE 
JOURNEY FROM LIVERPOOL TO GLASGOW. DEMONSTRA- 
TIONS OF SCOTCH PEOPLE AT EVERY STATION. OVATIONS 
AT GLASGOW. 

In the summer of 1852 Professor Stowe accepted the 
chair of Sacred Literature at Andover Theological Semi- 
nary as successor to Prof. Moses Stuart. The family 
removed from Brunswick to that place in September. The 
" Stone Cabin," which was tendered to Professor Stowe as a 
residence, was a bare building, which had been used by the 
students as a gymnasium and place for various kinds of 
124 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 125 

practical work and exercises, and, having never been used 
as a habitation, it presented but a cold attraction to the 
new Professor and his family. 

Calvin E. Stowe was pre-eminently a scholar; a man 
whose thoughts were ever full of his books, of his projected 
themes, of his forthcoming lectures and literary works. 
His wife was the practical manager of the affairs of the 
house. She energetically undertook to make the stone 
building fit for occupancy. She consulted carpenters and 
arranged to have partitions put in, closets, cupboards and 
shelves made, and in the meantime kept busily at work in 
other ways, all tending towards the making of a home, 
which the professor earnestly desired, and appreciated, but 
knew little how to aid in preparing. 

One of his brothers-in-law told with gusto how one day 
he was going down the street, and meeting a man with a 
load of lumber, asked him where he was going. The man, 
not having known any masculine authority in the business, 
replied in all seriousness, "I'm takin' it up to the Widder 
Stowe's, she's going to have some partitions built." 

Her mechanical ingenuity, which was strongly supple- 
mented by the desire to make things about her comfortable 
and pleasant to look upon, incited her to buying wall pa- 
pers, which she assisted to lay ; to hanging pictures in var- 
ious home-made frames; even to going so far as the con- 
struction of couches, improvised from long boxes, which 
were cushioned and covered with chintz and gay cretonnes, 
discovered in ancient chests among the family belongings. 
She made chairs out of barrels, with the slat seat, stave 
back, and flour-y bottom, stuffed, and covered with cushions 



126 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

and frills of pretty cloth, which were indeed. a triumph of 
upholstery. 

Dressing tables of shallow boxes set upon the side, a 
shelf or two put in place, and the whole covered with pink 
or blue cambric and shirred with dimnity curtains, made 
her sleeping-rooms dainty and fresh. She worked with 
cheerful enthusiasm and frequent exclamations of satisfac- 
tion over any particularly pretty effect, for many weeks, un- 
til the house became a home, its bare, uncompromising 
ugliness, softened into tasteful convenience, and comfort. 

Mrs. Stowe occasionally made trips to Boston to visit her 
brother Dr. Edward Beecher and his lovable wife, who 
who was a schoolmate of Harriet, at Hartford, and that 
lady testifies that her taste in millinery, was quite a marvel. 
She visited the shops and after mat ng a few inexpensive 
purchases of straw braid and ribbc l, returned to fashion 
most attractive head gear for herself and her daughters, 
giving the bonnets just the enviable touch which is com- 
monly supposed to be only possible to the art of the trained 
milliner. This administrative and artistic ability was an 
inheritance from her mother, whose achievements in going 
to house-keeping in 1800 in the house at Amagansett, were 
thus described with characteristic Beecherian humor, by her 
father : — 

" We had no carpets; there was not a carpet from end to end 
of the town. All had sanded floors, some of them worn 
through. Your mother introduced the first carpet. Uncle Lot 
gave me some money, and I had an itch to spend it ; went to a 
vendue, and bought a bale of cotton. She spun it and had it 
woven ; then she laid it down, sized it, and painted it in oils, with 
a border all around it, and bunches of roses and other flowers 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 127 

over the centre. . . She also took some common wooden chairs 
and painted them, and cut out figures of gilt paper, and glued 
them on and varnished them. They were really quite pretty. 
Old Deacon Talmadge came to see me. He stopped at the parlor 
door, and seemed afraid to come in. < Walk in, Deacon, -walk 
in,' said I. ' Why, I can't,' said he, « thout stepping on't.' Then 
after surveying it awhile in admiration, * D'ye think ye can have 
all that, and heaven, too ? ' " 

Meantime Mrs. Stowe was not without annoyance from 
the attacks of the friends of slavery, and many friendly 
critics, questioned her grounds for the manifest she had 
made. In the winter of 1852-53 she therefore devoted 
her time to the compilation and writing of a set of argu- 
ments and recorded facts concerning slavery, which she 
called a " Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin," wherein were set 
forth her authorities for statements she had made. It was 
plainly and logically done, and carried conviction to many 
doubting readers, converting them from their idea of the 
work as a strongly sensational story, to the realization that 
•every page was grounded in demonstrable truths and written 
with heart's blood. Mrs. Stowe declared that this " Key " 
was written with no pleasure but rather with real pain. 
She averred that in a work of fiction it is possible to find 
refuge from hard and terrible realities by inventing pleasing 
scenes and incidents ; but no such resource was open to her 
here. It was to be the cold facts, the unvarnished truth ? 
and necessarily very dreadful. But with her characteristic 
courage, she did it because she saw it was needed to make 
•complete her great work. The book was selected out of a 
mountain of materials and contains documents and testi- 
mony furnished her by legal friends, north and south. She 



128 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

asserted that her object had been to present the truths re- 
garding slavery to Christian people, to show what had been 
the action of the various denominations upon the question, 
and to place it in its true light, as a moral and religious ques- 
tion. In "The Key" she proceeds to give facts which crys- 
talized into the various characters of the story, and takes into 
successive consideration, the personality and conduct of the 
types which are called " Mr. Haley," " Mr. and Mrs. Shelby," 
"George Harris," "Eliza," "Uncle Tom," "Miss Ophelia," 
"St. Clare," "Marie," "Eva," "Legree," and all the others, 
with the correlative facts, incidents and actions which m ake 
them probable existences. Mrs. Stowe follows this with a 
statement of conditions to which a large array of facts af- 
firm, introduces a " Comparison of the Eoman Law of Slav- 
ery with the American," continues, in a chapter entitled 
"The Men Better than their Laws," thus proving to the 
modern critic that what she began as a moral and religious 
exhortation, had intensified to a political feidlleton of 
prodigious strength and momentum. In answer to the 
good men who took refuge for their evil enactments under 
scriptural authority, Mrs. Stowe next draws a contrast be- 
tween the ancient Hebrew slave law and the modern Amer- 
ican one. In this exhaustive research she was materially 
assisted by her husband, Professor Stowe, who in all the 
laws, customs, languages and literature of the ancients 
was a close and erudite scholar. 

The chapter, which is headed "Slavery is Despotism," 
would have no need to be written in this age of American 
civilization and moral right feeling. It is strongly signifi- 
cant of the change which has come about in the United 
States in forty years, to know that it was a vastly offensive 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 129 

statement to thousands of people in our land, in 1853. The 
book contains enough facts and testimony to condemn 
any institution, and there is little doubt that this work 
which is mathematical in argument and logic, following 
closely after the book which burned with feeling and meta- 
physical insights, clinched its arguments and ever afterward 
made slavery an anachronism in the civilized world. An 
enormous sale of this book naturally followed, for where 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" was known, it was read with avidity. 
Ninety thousand copies were published in the United States 
in one month. For years, the call was scarcely diminished. 

With the interest which naturally centres about a 
human being who has done a great good to the race, moral, 
esthetic or intellectual, people at home and abroad began 
to wish to know something of the personality of the 
woman who was becoming famous in every land. Among 
the letters coming from England, many of which had given 
rise to pleasant correspondence, were those of Mrs. Follen, 
the ardent anti-slavery lecturer, the contemporary of Har- 
riet Martineau, and of late, while sojourning in England, 
the intimate companion of George Eliot. George Eliot 
wrote early in 1853 — " Mrs. Follen showed me a delightful 
letter which she has had from Mrs. Stowe, telling all about 
herself. She begins by saying — 'I am a little bit of a 
woman, rather more than forty, as withered and dry as a 
pinch of snuff, never very well worth looking at in my 
best days and now a decidedly used up article.' The whole 
letter is most fascinating and makes one love her." 

"Without seeing the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 
George Eliot felt the force of her genial personality, and to 
those who have known her well, how the humor of this 



130 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

letter appears, accompanied in the writing, as it must have 
been, by the smile in the bright gray eyes and the comical 
contraction of the month, which went with all her similar 
sayings! It was hardly excusable, however, this little laugh, 
at herself, for Harriet Beecher Stowe had a face which, with- 
out any feminine prettiness, was frequently beautiful in the 
highest sense and she possessed various personal attractions 
which might well be envied by women. Her nose was shapely 
and indicative of sensibility and courage, her eyes were strik- 
ingly bright, intelligent, searching and honest in their expres- 
sion, her hair was abundant and curled about her face and 
in her neck, where it escaped from the knot in the back. 
Her mouth, the most characteristic of all the features, was 
mobile, with full lips, which contracted into the funny ex- 
pression just mentioned, when she saw the ridiculous side 
of any event or made ready some terse answer to an 
amusing sally. She was scarcely five feet high and spare, 
even to thinness. Her hands were small, and it needed no 
deep student of palmistry, to see in their shape and move- 
ments, clear evidence of the directness, capability and 
judicial qualities of her mind. A friend who knew her 
intimately during the years of her greatest literary activity, 
says: 

Mrs. Stowe was, like all people endowed with genius, variable in 
her moods. She was sometimes so angelic in sweetness that her 
plain face was fairly transfigured ; you seemed to see her already 
in beatitude. At other times she was depressed and moody. I 
do not mean ill tempered, but either dejected or apparently indif- 
ferent. 

When the " Key" had been put to press in the spring of 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 131 

1853, Professor Stowe suggested to his wife that in answer 
to the many letters, cordially inviting them to England, 
they should take a summer trip across the ocean for pleas- 
ure, rest and recreation. He wanted to witness her enthu- 
siasm over the historical monuments of the old world and 
to renew with her, his pleasant visit of seventeen years be- 
fore. Their daughters were at boarding school at New 
Haven, the two older boys were capable little fellows of 
twelve and fourteen who would take pride in good behavior 
under the charge of friends, and little Georgiana and baby 
Charlie were placed in care of relatives. 

Professor and Mrs. Stowe, with a party of four others, Mrs. 
Beecher, widow of George Beecher, and her son George, her 
brother Mr.Wm. Buckingham, and Eev. Chas. Beecher, sailed 
from New York for Liverpool about the first of April, 1853. 
After a voyage which was called "a good run," but which 
proved rather unpleasant at least to Mrs. Stowe, who suf- 
fered the peculiar aggravations of sea sickness, and after- 
wards gave a most amusing description of it, — a description 
that proves the whole world kin, under the unmerciful 
action of the elements, — they came in sight of the Irish 
coast and saw the reef where the Albion was wrecked. 
This was the ship which was sunk carrying down every 
passenger but one, a distinct memory in Harriet Beecher 
Stowe's mind, having engulfed with her sister Catherine's 
lover, all the hope and brightness of her father's house- 
hold. Up the Mersey they sailed to Liverpool, in time to 
hear the church bells of Sunday morning pealing their call 
to service. 

While they were making inquiries as to the best 
hotel, they were accosted by a young gentleman who 



132 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

introduced himself as the son of Mr. Edward Cropper of 
Dingle Bank. Mr. Cropper had been one of the most 
efficient supporters of anti-slavery in Liverpool. His wife 
was daughter of the great Lord Chief Justice Denman, who 
was also thoroughly devoted to the cause of freedom, and 
their whole social circle was composed of sympathizers in 
the cause which the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " had so 
powerfully espoused. 

Their son's wife was a daughter of Dr. Arnold of Kugby, 
and sister to the eminent literary critic, whose works have 
become classic, and who a short time ago suddenly died while 
on a visit to her at "The Dingle." The acquaintance of 
Mr. and Mrs. Cropper had been made by correspondence, 
and Mrs. Stowe was gratefully impressed by their hospita- 
ble greeting and invitation to their home. Much to the 
astonishment of the Stowe party there was found quite a 
crowd of people on the wharf, who seemed to direct their 
attention to them, and bowed, saying " Welcome to Eng- 
land" "Welcome Mrs. Stowe!" and made a double line 
of eager figures and glad faces as they passed to the car- 
riage. As a rule they stood very quietly, and looked very 
kindly, but with an evident determination to look, which, 
was a matter of wonder to the Americans. The carriage 
was blocked for a time by other vehicles and the crowd 
pressed about the carriage, healthy, rosy, pleasant faced 
men and women, with nothing but kindness and pleasant 
curiosity in every face. The author began slowly to un- 
derstand the import of this assemblage and was much 
affected by it, saying "It seemed as if I had not only 
touched the English shore, but felt the English heart." 

Two miles out of town was " The Dingle," the beautiful 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 133 

home of their unseen friends. Here they were met with 
the generous hospitality for which England has always been 
celebrated, in this case intensified by the enthusiastic interest 
and unusually demonstrative feeling which had been aroused 
for the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

But this, Mrs. Stowe did not fairly comprehend and, as 
always, unconscious of herself, attributed all the amenities 
to the natural kindness of the good people and sat down in 
her pleasant apartment, before an open fire, with a sense of 
perfect comfort and rest, which was a realization of home. 

With her passion for trees and flowers, she felt a very 
rapture over the ivies, and climbing vines, which were so 
green and full at the early season, and looking at the hedges, 
and the holly trees with their glossy leaves, the American 
woman said to herself "Ah ! Keally this is England ! " She 
made rapid acquaintance with a real English "robin redbreast" 
which is not half as large and debonair as our bird of the 
same name, but he was the identical " cock, robin " re- 
nowned in song and story, one who was undoubtedly a 
lineal descendant of the poor fellow whose death and burial 
are so vivid a memory of our childish hours. 

While the Stowes were at dinner with the Cropper 
family, who in consideration of their fatigue had arranged 
a quiet meal with them, a sister-in-law from next door, 
another Mrs. Cropper, came to invite Professor and Mrs. 
Stowe to a breakfast at her house the next day. After a 
night's rest they dressed, remembering the invitation to 
breakfast, but without the slightest idea of anything but a 
quiet family party, when to their astonishment, they found 
assembled a company of forty guests, the ladies sitting with 
their bonnets on, as for a call. With her innate grace and 



134 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

true culture it was impossible for Mrs. Stowe to feel more 
than a momentary embarrassment, at customs which were 
strange to her. The Stowes could take themselves for 
granted, and with the ease, begotten of quiet self respect and 
consciousness of a knowledge of the great essentials in 
social intercourse, they never failed to impress people as 
being well bred, and grounded in courtesy. 

Mrs. Stowe took her seat at the table, by the side of one 
of the most distinguished divines of the established church in 
Liverpool. The Rev. Dr. McNeile, at the request of the 
hostess, who begged him to express to Mrs. Stowe the hearty 
cougratulations of the first meeting of friends in Eng- 
land, in a few cordial and sincere words, felicitated her and 
the company upon the advent of the wonderful book she had 
written, and earnestly welcomed her to the ranks of their 
workers for the cause of freedom. 

Mrs. Stowe was much surprised and moved, and with the 
friendly and admiring eyes of the .company upon her, could 
only bow and make a sign to her husband to answer for 
her, which he did, giving a brief history of the writing of 
the book and a statement of the condition of affairs and 
public opinion in the United States. He answered various 
questions put by Dr. McNeile for the edification of the 
company, and the event proved a most interesting and prof- 
itable exchange of ideas and sentiments. 

In rare simplicity and the unconsciousness of self per- 
sonality, which is only possible to great souls, Professor 
Stowe and his wife sustained their part in the conversation 
to the admiration and respect of the company and received the 
honors of the occasion with a quiet dignity well befitting 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 135 

an eminent professor of theology and a woman who had 
written the greatest book of the day. 

When the breakfast was over Mrs. Stowe went to the 
door to find an array of bright eyed, rosy cheeked, neatly 
dressed children, who belonged to what was called the 
"Bagged School " of Mrs. E. Cropper, who under the direc- 
tion of their teacher, broke out into a cheery song, and after 
some interesting exercises evinced great eagerness to speak 
to Mrs. Stowe. She said in a letter, '-All the little rogues 
were quite familiar with Topsy and Eva, and aufait in the 
fortunes of Uncle Tom ; so that being introduced as the 
maternal relative of these characters, I seemed to find favor 
in their eyes." 

There were speeches by some of the guests, and the chil- 
dren dispersed with enthusiastic cheers. 

After the children had gone there came a succession of 
calls, which lasted until dinner time. They were some 
from very aged people, veterans in the anti-slavery cause, 
and from every one, came fervent expressions of hope for 
abolition in America. It was not until after dinner that 
Mrs. Stowe was able to take a quiet stroll in the grounds 
of "The Dingle," which she gladly prolonged into the long 
twilight. Two little boys joined her, offering to act as 
squires and in her conversation with them she learned that 
one, was Joseph Babington Macaulay, and that Uncle Tom 
Macaulay was a prime favorite with the young people. 
Again the wild flowers claimed the loving attention of the 
daughter of the Litchfield hills, and she noted the English 
daisy, not like our own with u Its wide plaited ruff and yel- 
low centre " but " The wee, modest, crimson tipped flower" 
which Burns loved, and was there called by various names, 



136 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

among them, the mountain daisy. Then there was in the 
dingley dells, the primrose of the poets, that of Wordsworth 
and Motley and Shakespeare and all the rest ; such a 
flower, Mrs. Stowe once said " as Mozart and Eaphael 
would have loved." The blue bell and the gorse or furze, 
and many another modest plant caught her observant eye, 
and was welcomed to her heart which throbbed so warmly 
for every creature, and increased in fervor as the object 
was modest, or by others undervalued. 

The following day the Stowes were driven out to Speke 
Hall and saw for the first time a really ancient pile with its 
environs full- of historical interest. In visiting its gloomy, 
armor-hung rooms, in passing through its haunted chambers, 
peering through the latticed windows and looking into its 
cavernous fireplaces, stone court yards, and dried wells 
Mrs. Stowe exclaimed " If our Hawthorne could conjure up 
such a thing as the "Seven Gables" in one of our prosaic 
country towns, what would he have done if he had lived 
here!" 

They entered a congenial atmosphere in the society of Liv- 
erpool, for the anti- si a very question had been from the very 
first, in England, a deeply religious movement. She found 
it difficult to make the good people, who considered it a 
matter of Christian principle, understand how conscientious 
Americans could allow political considerations to overrule 
their feeling of right and justice. The attitude of Christian 
ministers at the South, was to English divines utterly incon- 
ceivable. How much more inconsistent, seemed the stand 
taken by the people of the North, and especially New 
England ! 

The author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin " explained that the 






UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 137 

most plausible view, and that which seemed to have the 
most force with good men, was one which represented 
slavery as a sort of wardship, by which an inferior race was 
brought under the watch and care of those who might lead 
them into Christianity. But when Dr. McNeile inquired if 
religious instruction was customary through the South and 
on the plantations, she was forced to confess that although 
systematic religious instruction was enjoined upon the mas- 
ters by different denominations, the poor creatures, naturally 
of a religious temperament, were often left to work out 
their own salvation, while the advanced and cultured people 
escaped the twinges of conscience by shutting their eyes to 
the abuses and restrictions of the system. 

Liverpool had originally been to the anti-slavery cause, 
what New York was, at the time of Mrs. Stowe's visit. Its 
commercial interests had been as largely implicated in the 
slave trade, and the virulence of its opposition to the leaders 
of the abolition movement was as bitter and uncompromis- 
ing. But slavery in England had been abolished, and Mrs. 
Stowe found herself immeasurably cheered and encouraged 
by the social upholding of her prayerfully pondered con- 
victions. 

Professor and Mrs. Stowe went by invitation into Liver- 
pool to attend a meeting of anti -slavery sympathisers. It 
was the Liverpool Ladies Anti-Slavery Association and 
presumably a modest affair, but to their surprise they found 
a great hall, packed with people, who greeted them with 
prolonged applause and the Chairman, A. Hodgson, Esq., 
opened the proceedings with an address to Mrs. Stowe, 
which ended with a very remarkable presentation. He 
told how Lord Shaftsbury had proposed and carried through 



138 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

a plan for a testimonial to the author of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin " and stated that the December previous, a few ladies 
met to consider the best plan to obtain signatures in Liver- 
pool to an address to the women of America on the subject 
of negro slavery. The expression of feeling had been very 
general, contributions from one penny upwards having been 
received. There were twenty-one thousand, nine hundred 
and fifty-three signatures. Of these, twenty thousand and 
more, had been obtained in Liverpool and the others were 
sent from London by friends who preferred their form of 
address. The speaker said it was given as an expression of 
their grateful appreciation of Mrs. Stowe's valuable ser- 
vices in the cause of the negro, as a token of admiration 
for the genius, and of high esteem for the philanthropy and 
Christian feeling which animated her great work, " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin." 

Again Professor Stowe arose to return thanks for his 
wife. He spoke eloquently and with magnetic force, being 
often interrupted by applause. His address gave abundant 
testimony of his thorough culture and clear discernment of 
the signs of the times. His account of the feeling in 
America was heard with intense interest, and his entire 
speech so befitted the occasion and charmed the hearers 
that he no longer remained, even in their eyes, in the 
shadow of his wife's greatness, but stood forth a command- 
ing figure upon the arena of the w r orld's advancement. He 
was dignified in his personal appearance, his voice was 
pleasant and his language well chosen. He was fifty years 
of age, being some nine years the senior of his wife. He 
was of medium height, with a well proportioned and erect 
figure. The massive dome of his head rose high from the 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 139 

ears and overhung bis kindly, piercing eyes with heavy, 
slightly grizzled brows, while his hair which was thinning 
on the crown, fell in soft waves upon his neck. He was a 
grand looking man, appearing every inch the eminent 
scholar and professor of Theological Literature that he 
was. 

More speeches were made by the Rev. C. M. Birrell, Sir 
George Stephen, and others, all replete with enthusiastic 
admiration and respect for the American author, and the 
joy that comes from interchange of intellectual gifts and 
kind feeling, with worthy confreres. 

Another invitation called them to Liverpool, to a meet- 
ing in a large residence of Anti -Slavery advocates, and 
there Professor Stowe being called upon, made some signifi- 
cant remarks on the general subject, and suggested that 
the free part of the world could if they would, withhold 
their support to slavery by refusing to buy the cotton which 
was the product of slave labor. His ideas were seriously 
considered by a number of guests who were prominent in 
the Cotton Exchange. When the party was dispersing the 
lady of the house told Mrs. Stowe that the servants had 
asked to see her, and accordingly she held a brief reception, 
which was equally gratifying to them and to her. They had 
all read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and were full of sympathy, 
and she found them a good looking, intelligent class, quite 
superior to those employed in similar service in the United 
States. Here the housekeeper begged for her autograph, 
which was cordially given. She especially remarked and 
commended their manners adding, " Everybody's manners 
are more clefferential in England than in America," a pro- 
duct of the monarchical system and its culture, which she 



140 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

found a pleasing contrast to the independence of republican 
manners, which so often amounts to rudeness. 

The day before leaving Liverpool the Stowes were in- 
vited to meet the ladies of the Negro's Friend Society, and 
when they left the city a large party of ladies and gentlemen 
accompanied them to the station, whither flowers and other 
remembrances were sent, by numerous admiring friends. 
From Liverpool to Glasgow they went by train, and as they 
approached the Scottish soil, Mrs. Stow r e began to feel all the 
affectionate desire to tread the sturdy earth of Caledonia 
which had for years been an ever recurring and enthusiastic 
wish to her. There came in the very air, and in the look of 
the north countryside, the vivid remembrance of the book 
of "Views of Scotland," which lay upon her mother's table, 
and over which she spent so many happy, dreamy hours, 
when a child. The Scotch ballads began to tune afresh in her 
a mind, the songs of Burns which had been a household 
treasure since her impressionable youth, and the enchant- 
ments of Scott, which were joyfully felt in early years but 
more fully realized with the enlarged powers of maturity, 
bore in upon her, inciting an ecstatic anticipation which 
she half feared was not to be realized. 

They left Liverpool with hearts a little tremulous with 
feeling, surcharged with the sympathy and precious friend- 
ships they had formed; but the party of six, which just 
filled the^compartment, was a merry and an intelligent one, 
and regrets were forgotten in present and anticipated pleas- 
ures. 

Mrs. Stowe remarked that the sight of English scenery 
gave a new understanding of the spirit and phraseology of 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 141 

English poetry and quoted those beautiful lines from Mil- 
ton's L' Allegro, beginning — 

" Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures 

While the landscape round it measures: 
Russet lawns and fallows gray, 

Where the nibbling flocks do stray." 

as an instance out of many passages in literature which 
once on English ground, start into new significance. 

Mrs. Stowe, fatigued from the sight seeing and feting of 
the past week, ensconsed herself in a corner of the compart- 
ment to sleep, but was wakened near Lancaster to see the 
castle built by John of Gaunt in the reign of Edward III., 
and soon Carlisle, (that of Scott's ballad, in the song for 
Albert Graeme in the Lay of the Last Minstrel) was seen. 
Historical reminiscences came thick to her mind, or were 
discussed by the party, and accounts of the conversa- 
tion, in which merry making, humorous observations, and 
earnest reflections were interspersed, give one the impres- 
sion of an ideal traveling party. 

Gretna Green, the Mecca of English runaway lovers, the 
scene of many romantic marriages, sympathetic Gretna 
Green, which has winked at the escapades of many distin- 
guished wedding parties, was passed, and they were on Scot- 
tish soil. This, and a glimpse of Solway Frith naturally 
suggested young Lochinvar, and the travelers wondered 
how many authors it would take to enchant our country 
from Maine to New Orleans as every foot of ground is en- 
chanted there in Scotland. The sun went down and night 
drew on, but they were in Scotland and Scotch ballads, 
Scotch tunes, and Scotch literature held sway. They sang 
" Auld Lang Syne," " Scots who ha' wi' Wallace Bled," 
and " Bonnie Doon " and then changing the metre came out 



1±2 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

strong upon "Dundee," "Elgin," and "Martyrs." They 
gave full range to the enthusiasm of coming to Scotland 
for the first time, and Mrs. Stowe, always his ardent ad- 
mirer, sighed, " Ah, how I wish Walter Scott were alive." 
At Lockerby, where the real "Old Mortality," that is, 
the person who stood for the character, is buried, the train 
stopped and in the darkness outside, they became aware of 
a throng of people and broad Scotch tongues inquired 
for Mrs. Stowe. She went to the window. There were 
men, women, and children, and hand after hand was ex- 
tended to her, while hearty words of welcome came from 
their honest hearts. This reception, which was peculiarly 
grateful to her who had so warm a heart for this country, 
affected Mrs. Stowe deeply and she says she shall never for- 
get the thrill of their words. " Ye're welcome to Scotland," 
and the "Gude nights," as they rolled away from the station. 
By some mysterious divination, people at other stopping 
places had been advised of their coming, and the responsive 
woman shook hands, thanked the people, waved a towel 
instead of her handkerchief, more than once in her excite- 
ment, and sat down, wiping tears from her glad eyes, amid 
the irrepressible exclamations and gratified wonderment of 
her companions. Many times through the night were they 
thus pleasantly aroused, and came into Glasgow in the early 
morning with the flames from the great chimneys of the 
numerous iron works lighting the sky with a lurid glare. 
Sleepily recalling the picturesque times when the country 
was so lighted by the fires which the marauding High- 
landers had set on various hills of the Lowlands, and the 
song of Rhoderick Dhu — • 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 143 

" Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, 
And Banmachor's groans to our slogan replied ; 
Glen Luss and Ross Dim. they are smoking in ruins, 
And the best of Loch Lomond lies dead on her side." 

They were driven to the hospitable mansion of Mr. Baillie 
Paton, and speedily fell asleep in much needed rest. They 
awoke stiff and weary, but enjoyed the viands set forth at 
a Scotch breakfast. They were indeed in "the land of 
cakes." 

There was porridge, and herring and bannock, and besides, 
many other good things, but these were quite too well known 
to be considered by the guests, who were saturated with a 
Scotch humor. Their host was a member of the city coun- 
cil and the one whose speech at a public meeting had led 
to their invitation from the Mayor to visit the city. After 
breakfast, callers began to arrive. 

Among the first, a friend of the family with her three 
beautiful children, the youngest of whom was the proud 
bearer of a handsome album containing a pressed collection 
of the sea mosses of the Scottish coast. Knowing Mrs. 
Stowe's passionate fondness for natural beauties, from hill- 
side, or meadow, sandy shingle or rock-bound shore, could 
anything have been more delicate and acceptable ? Callers 
came and went, books and flowers and fruit were sent in. 
Deputations arrived of prominent citizens from Paisley, 
Greenock, Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Belfast, — 
every man full of deep enthusiasm which yet was subdued 
by the dignity of his position and the importance of the 
occasion, — honest whole-souled, sturdy men they were, who 
pressed her small hand within their great palms, and went 
away moved with her simple manners, and the fact that they 
had spoken face to face with the author of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin." 



14:4: THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

When the street door was not swinging with coming or 
departing visitors, the postman's ring opened it, and letters, 
so many that it took Professor Stowe from nine o'clock in 
the morning until two in the afternoon to read and answer 
them in the briefest manner, drifted upon them. They were 
from all classes, high and low, rich and poor, the cultured 
and illiterate, in every style of writing, composition and 
stationery; some mere outbursts of feeling, many of 
advice, requests for locks of hair, autographs, or written 
sentiments, and many, many invitations to go everywhere, 
stay any length of time, and see everything, in Scotland. 
Mrs. Stowe has said this day seemed like a dizzy, confused 
dream. The tax upon her feelings and nervous system was 
even greater than upon her physical strength. She was 
overwhelmed, and quite unnerved. The depth and inten- 
sity of her emotions all of pleasure, gratitude, responsive 
sympathy and inexpressible surprise, amounted to an unut- 
terable sadness, just as joy, when in expressible,finds vent in 
tears. 

She afterwards said that she knew that she, as the indi- 
vidual who had called forth such an outburst was altogether 
inadequate and disproportionate to it, and realized that it 
was the great heart of universal brotherhood, surging for- 
ward in a huge sympathetic wave. That she received it, 
was the accident of the age. 

How few great minds have so modest an estimate of the 
importance of their relation to worldly affairs ! 

In the afternoon Mrs. Stowe rode out with the Lord 
Provost, who is an officer of" the same grade as our mayor 
or more strictly speaking, to the lords mayors in England, 
where the office is more dignified. On the way the streets 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 145 

were blocked up by a crowd of people who had come out 
to see her, but she was so worn out she could only bow 
occasionally and hardly could walk through the cathedral. 
This was the edifice where a part of the scene of Eob Eoy 
is laid and she aroused to its imposing aspect and observed 
the statue of John Knox on the opposite eminence "with 
its arm uplifted, as if shaking his fist at the old cathedral 
which in life he vainly endeavored to battle down." 

In consequence of her over exertions Mrs. Stowe was 
the next day so ill as to need the attendance of a physician, 
and remained in bed all day, uninformed of the stream of 
callers and squall of letters which came, but she arose and 
dressed at night for she " had engaged to drink tea with 
two thousand people." 

Among their distinguished new found friends, were Rev. 
Dr. and Mrs. Wardlaw, who called for Mrs. Stowe and took 
her with them in their carriage to the great hall where the 
meeting was to take place. 

This occasion, so unique and so very Scotch in many of 
its features, is worthy of a description. A great crowd sur- 
rounded the building, through which they with some diffi- 
culty made their way, as every one pressed and jostled and 
bore down another's shoulders and craned his neck to get a 
glimpse of the little lady who was the object of so many 
honors. Yet we may well believe that idle curiosity was 
not their chief impelling motive. It was the author of 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin " which they had all read, the mother of 
gentle "Eva" and "St. Clare and "Miss Ophelia" and 
"Topsy " poor " Uncle Tom," whom they would see, even if 
they had to step on a fellow's toes to do it. For that offense 
could be righted later, and the chance to see Mrs. Stowe 
10 



146 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

miolit never occur again, and Jock and Sandie and Tullie 
and Robin were as good naturedly rude as it was in their 
kind natures to be. Could one be much offended with them ? 
Surely the woman whom they detained, had no impa- 
tience in her heart, at this most flattering annoyance. Once 
inside the hall Mrs. Stowe found herself in a dressing-room 
with Mrs. Wardlaw, shaking hands with a great many 
ladies who pressed into the apartment. They then passed 
into a gallery fronting the audience which arose with 
cheers as the party took their seats. 

Many narrow tables w r ere stretched the whole length of 
the spacious hall, which were set with cups and saucers, 
biscuit, and tea cakes, and at the proper time, attendants 
passed the fragrant decoction, so that without the least con- 
fusion they all literally took tea together. Mrs. Stowe's 
table, at which were Mrs. Wardlaw, ministers of the differ- 
ent churches and ladies and gentlemen of the Glasgow Anti- 
Slavery Society, under whose auspices the " tea" was given, 
was stretched across the gallery and they drank tea there 
" in sight of all the people.'' 

Mrs. Stowe was much pleased and amused by the unus- 
ual character of the entertainment, and has since said, "It 
seemed to me such an odd idea, I could not help wondering 
what sort of a tea-pot that must be, in which all this tea 
for two thousand people was made. Truly, as Hadji Baba 
says, I think they must have had the 'father of all tea- 
kettles ' to boil it in. I could not help wondering if old 
mother Scotland had put two thousand teaspoonfuls of tea 
for the company, and one for the tea-pot, as is our good 
Yankee custom." 

After tea, the whole assemblage sang together some 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 147 

verses of the seventy-second Psalm in the old Scotch ver- 
sion. Then the speeches began, the Eev. Dr. Wardlaw 
leading in a stirring, and witty address, in all respects 
appropriate to the occasion and the theme of nearest inter- 
est to every one, the cause, the woman, and the book. 

When Professor Stowe rose to reply, the hall shook with 
vociferous applause. He thanked them for Mrs. Stowe, and 
when, in reference to the book which had so wonderfully 
taken hold of the people, he said he could not imagine how 
any written work could have elicited such expressions of 
attachment, that he was inclined to think it had not been 
written at all — he " spected it grew," the tremendous 
cheers from the two thousand throats and the waving 
of hundreds of handkerchiefs testified, as no assurances 
could have done, to the familiarity of the crowd with the 
book, and their irrepressible delight in the character of 
Topsy, whom for the moment he quoted. 

Dr. Stowe's speech most pleasantly touched the various 
sensibilities of the audience, and his periods were always 
closed with cheers, laughter, or earnest cries of " Hear, 
Hear." More speeches followed, and a second service of 
fruit, grapes, oranges and sweet cakes, was served, as the 
tea had been. 

It is easy to see what a strain this unexpected and over- 
flowing mead of praise, this constant reception of good will 
and enthusiastic friendliness, this spirited discussion of the 
heart-breaking issues she had been dwelling upon intently 
for more than two years, must have been to Mrs. Stowe, 
who went abroad for rest and recuperation for an already 
over-taxed constitution. She was so nearly prostrated that 



148 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

she withdrew from the meeting before it closed, but happily 
was somewhat resuscitated by a long night's rest. 

The next day they rode to Bothwell Castle, once the 
residence of the black Douglas, and afterwards to the famous 
Bothwell Bridge which Scott has immortalized. Then to 
the elegant mansion which in former days belonged to 
Lockhart, the son-in-law of Sir Walter Scott. In this house 
" Old Mortality " was written. After their return from the 
morning excursion, the party were entertained at luncheon 
and the splendor of the hot house flowers which adorned 
the table, elicited Mrs. Stowe's special admiration. 

In the evening there was another soiree, proposed by the 
working classes, to give admission to many who had not 
been able to purchase tickets to the " tea " of the evening 
before. The arrangements and entertainments were the 
same as those of the previous evening, but this was, if 
possible the more interesting occasion to Mrs. Stowe, as it 
brought together just the class she was anxious to meet. 
As she sat in the gallery and looked over the audience, she 
saw what appeared very like a similar gathering in America 
and remarked what has so often since been noted, the re- 
semblance of the Scotch middle classes to the average New 
Englander. There was the same quiet good taste in dress, 
the same air of self respect and honesty, the same plain and 
a little hard featured though earnest expression, of coun- 
tenance. It is only in the middle classes that peculiarities, 
and national differences or resemblances can be traced, for 
culture and the highest civilization deprive the highest 
class of mind of nationality, and what it gains in cosmo- 
politan air and expression, it loses in characteristic individ- 
uality. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 149 

She also found with some surprise, that Walter Scott 
was not the popular favorite they had supposed. Allusions 
to '' Bannockburn," and " Drumclog," never failed to bring 
down the house, but mention of the great Sir Walter met 
with but cool response. The Stowe party discussed this 
matter afterwards and wondered at it, but came to the con- 
clusion that it was because he belonged to a past age and 
not to a coming one, and that hope which springs eternal 
in the human breast, looking ever and always to the future, 
spontaneously answered to the voice which pointed for- 
ward. Scott's writings partook largely of the spirit of 
the times in which they were written. He was inclined, by 
the leading strings of family and ancestral greatness, to 
retrospection. He represented one pole, that of aristocracy, 
while Burns was at the apex of the other, or represented 
democracy, which meant humanity. Burns was instinct- 
ively for the people, as Tolstoi is intellectually and relig- 
iously persuaded of their needs and rights. u Uncle Tom's 
Cabin " combined and grandly embodied, this living sym- 
pathy with all men, and marvelously touched the universal 
heart. 



CHAPTKR VII. 

MRS. STOWE IN" SCOTLAND. SAIL DOWN THE CLYDE. ENTHU- 
SIASTIC RECEPTION FROM THE COMMON PEOPLE. RECEP- 
TION AT EDINBURGH BY THE LORD PROVOST, MAGISTRACY 
OF THE CITY, AND COMMITTEES OF ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIE- 
TIES. RECOGNIZED BY RIOTOUSLY EXPRESSIVE STREET 
BOYS. THE GREAT EDINBURGH MEETING, AND SCOTCH 
PENNY OFFERING IN BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN SLAVES. 
INSCRIPTION UPON THE MASSIVE SALVER WHICH BORE A 
THOUSAND GOLDEN SOVEREIGNS. HOSPITALITIES AT ABER- 
DEEN. GREAT PUBLIC MEETING AND PRESENTATION TO 
THE AUTHOR OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. DUNDEE OVATION^ 
AND PRESENTATION OF WORKS OF LOCAL AUTHORS. AN- 
OTHER SOIREE AT EDINBURGH, GIVEN BY WORKING MEN. 
VISIT TO ABBOTSFORD, DRYBURGH AND MELROSE ABBEYS. 
THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM AND TEMPERANCE ONE IN SCOT- 
LAND. GREAT TEMPERANCE MEETINGS. ARRIVAL AT 
LONDON. THE LORD MAYOR'S DINNER. DISTINGUISHED 
GUESTS WHO UNITED IN HONORS TO MRS. STOWE. DINNER 
WITH THE EARL OF CARLISLE. LONDON GIN PALACES. 

On the 17th of April the Stowe party, with a large com- 
pany of friends which quite filled the small steamer, went 
for a sail down the Clyde. Dunbarton Castle with the ro- 
mantic shades of the great Wallace, made classic bj the 
pen of Miss Porter ; the Leven — the identical " Leven 
water " of song and story — the old seat of the Earls of 
150 



uncle tum's cabin. 151 

Glencairn which recalled Barn's most eloquent " Lament 
for James, Earl of Glencairn," and then old Cardross 
Castle, where it is said Eobert Bruce breathed his last, 
made the excursion one of exquisite delight and excite- 
ment, for every name suggested a poem, and every scene re- 
called a history in prose or verse. Mrs. Stowe, who had a 
most remarkable verbal memory, needed only a suggestion 
to recall entire poems, which she recited with excellent 
effect. They dreamed of David Deans and Jeanie and 
Erne, and half expected to see them, hereabout. They 
were not to be seen, bat at one of the landings there pre- 
sented himself, a broad-shouldered Scotch farmer who stood 
some six feet two inches in height, who told Mrs. Stowe 
he had read her book and had walked six miles to see her, 
and declared he " would do it any day." So massive and pon- 
derous did he seem, that he represented not illy a bit of the 
ragged landscape, as if the very rocks and burns had come 
to greet her. She said—" When I put my hand into his 
great prairie of a palm, I was as a grasshopper in my own 
eyes." He was one of the Duke of Argyle's farmers and, 
she thought, were all his henchmen of this pattern he might 
be able to speak to the enemy in the gates, to some purpose. 
They landed at Gare Loch, which is but a bay made by 
a widening of the river Clyde, and went through the little 
village of Kow. As they walked along, a carriage which 
came after them, stopped and a bunch of primroses fell at 
Mrs. Stowe's feet. She picked it up, and turning saw two 
ladies, who asked if she were the author of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin ! " Being answered in the affirmative, they begged her 
so earnestly and gracefully to come under their roof and take 
refreshment, that leaving the rest of the party, Professor and 



152 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Mrs. Stowe entered the carriage and were driven to a charm- 
ing villa which, surrounded by flower gardens and pleasure 
grounds, stood at the head of the lake. Their hostesses told 
her that being much confined to the house by illness and one 
by lameness^ they never expected to see her, but considered 
this encounter nothing less than Providential kindness to 
them. Seeing that she needed rest, they made her retire 
to a cozy bedroom, where in absolute quiet, so grateful to 
her tired senses, she slept for a time. 

Leaving Eow, it was decided that they would ride back 
to Glasgow through the places which line the river side, and 
Dr. Robson and Lady Anderson were their carriage com- 
panions. Mrs. Stowe has humorously narrated how awk- 
wardly she acquired the custom of addressing people by 
their titles, and says she usually said " Mr." or " Mrs." and 
then begged pardon, and corrected it to " Lord " or " Lady," 
making a general hitch in the conversation. Lady Ander- 
son, who was a hearty, genial Scotch woman, appreciated 
her difficulty and quite enjoyed the mistakes, entering 
mirthfully into the spirit of the hour, which was all of 
pleasantness and good feeling. News of their coming pre- 
ceded them along the way, and people appeared at their 
doors, bowing, smiling, waving their handkerchiefs, and 
many times was the carriage stopped by burly men, and 
blushing women, who would shake hands; and young girls 
and children, who literally heaped the carriage with 
flowers. 

Was there ever anything like it? Had any beautiful 
queen a more triumphal passage through a country, than 
this plain American woman, in her happy journey through 
Scotland ? It was a queenship by Divine right, indeed! A 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 153 

spontaneous crowning of one who stood upon a throne 
made of the hearts of the people, which were so willingly 
cast at her feet at the touch of love and sympathy for all 
men, which breathed throughout her wonderful work ! 

At every village, and at wayside inns, they found people 
waiting to see them pass, and food and drink enough for 
the most giantesque gourmand, were offered and pressed 
upon them at scores of hospitable houses, whose inmates 
came into the road to speak to them. Mrs. Stowe has said 
of this welcome: "What pleased me was, that it was not 
mainly from the rich, nor the great, but the plain common 
people. The butcher came out of his stall, and the baker 
from his shop, the miller dusty with his flour, and the 
blooming comely young mother with her baby in her arms, 
all smiling and bowing with that hearty intelligent friendly 
look, as if they knew we would be glad to see them." 

Was it strange ? Had they not abundant assurance of 
that, in the spirit and tone of her written characters? Had 
it not been felt in these organ tones of deep feeling, which 
set vibrating the delicate sympathetic strings, which are 
common to all classes ? Sunday was a day of rest, mostly 
spent in bed by Mrs. Stowe, though at evening she strolled 
out with her husband along the river Kelvin, quite to its 
junction with the Clyde. They looked over to the south 
and imagined, far out of sight, the cottage of Burns on the 
bonny banks of Ayr. 

The Stowes left Glasgow and reached Edinburgh after a 
two hours ride. At the station was a great crowd of 
people, among whom, like white flecks upon a summer 
cloud, appeared white bonnets and the drab dresses of many 
Friends. The lord provost or mayor met them at the door 



154 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

of the car and presented them to the magistracy of the city, 
and the committees of the Anti- Slavery societies. They 
entered the carriage with the lord provost and their hostess 
Mrs. Wigham, and drove away, with the crowd following 
with shouts and cheers. They drove to the Castle, to 
Ilolyrood, to the University, to the hospitals, and through 
many of the principal streets, and met everywhere loud and 
enthusiastic greetings from the people, while some boys, 
with the pertinacious and enterprising spirit of our own 
modern street urchins, for a long time strove to keep up 
with the carriage. u Heck !'' cried one of them breathlessly 
to his earnest companions, " That's her ; see the curls." 

It appeared that the artists and engravers who had met 
the public demand for her pictures, had depended prin- 
cipally on that feature as a striking characteristic, and the 
boys rightly thought there could be no mistake here. The 
boys ran riot that day, and vastly enjoyed themselves in 
giving utterance, to what must have equalled the suppressed 
vociferation of the whole city. How quick are they to 
sense the public feeling ! how nice are their instinctive per- 
ceptions of false pretenses or real worth ! how embarrass- 
ingly free are their expressions of opinion upon the most 
personal matters ! But boys, take them as they run, have 
their hearts in the right place and they sprang up joyfully 
to greet the author of" Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

Mrs. Wigham, with whom Mrs. Stowe was staying, was 
most thoughtful of her health and nursed her and ministered 
to her slightest wish with tender care. The family were 
Friends, who without ostentation, enjoyed all that wealth 
and culture could bring to home enjoyment. The amount 
of letters found waiting for them in Edinburgh was, if any- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 155 

thing, more appalling than that in Glasgow. Among them 
was one from the beautiful Duchess of Sutherland, and 
another from the Earl of Carlisle, both desiring to make 
appointments to meet them when they came to London. 
There was a very interesting note from the Eev. Charles 
Kingsley and his wife, and from many other distinguished 
people and divines, and scores more, which werechiefly in- 
teresting as indicative of the public mind upon the themes 
which most concerned the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

One was from a shoemaker's wife with some very fair 
verses, many contained gifts, others accompanied flowers 
which they had learned were among the most precious 
gifts to be offered Mrs. Stowe. 

On the evening of April 20th transpired the great 
Edinburgh meeting, accounts of which filled the Scot- 
tish and English papers for some days after. It was 
in some respects a repetition of what had passed in Glas- 
gow; the hall was surrounded by a dense crowd who 
blocked the entrance and testified the same respectful 
curiosity to see Harriet Beecher Stowe. The dressing- 
room was filled with people who wished to meet her, the 
hall was packed with a great crowd of people from whom 
arose such a thunderous peal of applause when Mrs. Stowe 
entered, that for a few moments she was stunned and al- 
most overcome, but recovering from the strange sensation, 
she saw that every one looked so heartily pleased, and felt 
so sensibly the all-pervading atmosphere of geniality and 
sympathy which rushed as a mighty wind to meet her, 
that she became calm, and took her seat with a new happi- 
ness and feeling of home welcome. Note the rare simplic- 
ity of a woman so feted, so honored, so worshiped by the 



156 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

whole people of a foreign country, who wrote to her friends 
and believed what she said — "After all I consider that 
these cheers and applause, are Scotland's voice to America, 
a recognition of the brotherhood of the countries." 

The Lord Provost opened the meeting by reading letters 
from a number of distinguished people who were unable to 
attend, among them Professor Blackie, the Earl of Buchan, 
Dr. Candish, and Sir W. Gibson Craig, all of whom were 
earnest sympathizers and regretted their enforced absence. 
There was a note from Lord Cockburn, so full of genuine 
good feeling to the cause, and the person they delighted to 
honor, that the meeting broke into applause. The Lord 
Provost then proceeded with his address of welcome, which 
was constantly applauded by the audience ; spoke of the 
address with signatures which was to be presented later in 
the evening, and also of what they had chosen to term a 
penny offering, in order that none might be deterred from 
contributing the smallest amount, which they desired to 
have used, through her instrumentality, as a means of miti- 
gating the horrors of slavery as they came under her per- 
sonal observation. The national penny offering which had 
been poured out in a stream of small sums, had amounted to 
a noble tribute, and was embodied in a thousand golden sov- 
ereigns on a magnificent silver salver which rested upon a 
stand, in full view of the audience. The salver, which was 
a massive vessel of sterling silver, with a wide border on 
which in an exquisite design were twined the shamrock, 
the rose and the thistle, as typical of the sympathy and 
co-operations of the people of Great Britain in the cause of 
Anti-Slavery, bore upon its surface, underneath the pile of 
shining coins, this inscription — 






UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 157 

in /ed-^imcwp <?■/ £n& diad adjUeeiation in •* 



'^t^e / 



a4- a woman, 






one/ in {/ftemMiew &/ /rt vitiJ fo #M, dfo <&nc/ &/ 

<£ne- died&nfa&cw in ae-rfc/ of 







vwm ^stamw. 





now Amced ' -ttdem i/ a-mewn^ina /a J?/ 000 (<3ofet/ma. 







md# 0? M# (&>taw 




Numbers, Chap. VI ,, Ver. 24, 25, 26. 

( Crf/U. 20, /<td>3. 



158 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

The Rev. Mr. Ballantyne, who presented it, gave the his- 
tory of its collection, telling how the people of all grades 
and classes had contributed to it, many of the thousands of 
gifts coming from the homes of direst poverty, even the 
blind and sick bringing their penny. 

The salver with its golden burden was received by Pro- 
fessor Stowe amid tremendous applause, and his speech 
that followed was a marvelous exposition of conditions in 
far away America, and the principles which should, and he 
doubted not would, in the future, however distant, overrule 
the sordid love of gain or mistaken political honor of the 
people. Mrs. Stowe left long before the meeting was over, 
and from excess of emotion and deadly fatigue, did not sleep 
at all that night. 

It may be said here, that this and other similar " offer- 
ings," which might have indeed proved an embarrassment 
of riches to a traveling party, were given to the care of 
friends to be shipped to America. The money was judi- 
ciously and conscientiously employed to educate several 
former slaves, and the vessels of massive silver, remain 
precious souvenirs of these occasions. 

One of the following beautiful days the Stowe party 
drove out to Craigmiller Castle, formerly one of the royal 
residences. It was here that Mary Queen of Scots retreated 
after the murder of Rizzio, and the chroniclers say was 
heard day after day weeping, and wishing her unfortunate 
life ended. Here Mrs. Stowe found some small daisies 
which a young friend told her were the " gowans " of 
Scotch poetry. There was a view of " Auld Reekie," 
Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags, and far down the Frith of 



uncle tom's cabin. 159 

Forth, in the dim distance was seen Bass Book, the cele- 
brated prison where the Covenanters were immured. 

Bidding Edinburgh farewell, they took a train for Aber- 
deen. The application of old, poetic and historical names 
to railway stations, made the travelers smile and Mrs. 
Stowe recalled the humorous lines of whimsical Tom 
Hood, on a possible railroad through the Holy Land, an 
idea, by the way, which is not so new and strange to us of 
the present day, as it was forty or more years gone by. It 
was quite incongruous to ride swiftly up to a neat little 
station and hear " Bannockburn " called oat by the guard, 
who unlocked doors, bustled about on the platform and 
signalled the engineer to get away, as unconcernedly as if 
just here were not the Marathon of Scotland, the place 
hallowed to warlike memories, and the air redolent of 
superhuman bravery and the death sighs of the warrior 
slain. 

There. was little but the hills and rocky glens to speak 
of this to modern travelers, but at Stirling still stood the 
castle, magnificently seated on a towering rock, looking 
worthy to have been the gathering place, as it was for 
many years, of Scotland's brilliant court. Here are laid 
the scenes, described with the minuteness and local color 
•only possible to a Scottish poet and that poet Walter Scott, 
with his full, vivid freshness of diction, and pictures from 
the " Lady of the Lake" treasured in Mrs. Stowe's mind, 
were realized in fact, and seen as something long familiar 
and dear. 

Still farther on, and appropriately surrounded by dark 
and solemn woods, stood Glamis Castle, the scene of the 
tragedy of Macbeth. Only glimpses could be seen from the 



160 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

road, but those stimulated the imagination enough to tempo- 
rarily transport them back through the ages to the rude 
Saxon period, " When Knights were bold and Barons held 
their sway," when witches held the fate of clans in their 
warning voices and castles were stormed and taken by 
sheer force of arms and personal brawn. 

It was a long leap, but they came back to the 19th cen- 
tury, the Dee was soon crossed, and the city of Aberdeen 
was reached late in the afternoon. The Lord Provost of 
Aberdeen, met them (and, by the way, how very kind, and 
gallant, and gifted in speaking, were all those Lords Pro- 
vosts of the cities of Scotland,) and as they drove to the 
house of good Mr. Cruikshank, a genial Friend, who was 
to entertain them, he pointed out the places of interest, and 
proved Aberdeen was not less gracefully represented by its 
public officer than other cities of the land. An excellent, 
simple supper was on the table awaiting them, and some 
haste was needed, for a public meeting, another great dem- 
onstration, was awaiting them at the city hall. They, for 
some reason, enjoyed this occasion with peculiar zest. 

Mrs. Stowe was surrounded on the stage by a com- 
pany of charming young ladies, one of whom presented 
her with a beautiful bouquet, some of the flowers which 
made a part of it, being pressed in an album and 
treasured even to this day. There was some very 
animated speaking, all ingeniously contriving, Mrs. 
Stowe humorously remarked, "to blend enthusiastic 
love and admiration for America, with detestation of sla- 
very." The coast had reminded Mrs. Stowe of the rugged 
rock-bound shore of the state of Maine, and the people 
whom she saw at the Aberdeen meeting, seemed like the 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 161 

plain, strong, warm-hearted folk of that New England 
community. Their physical make-up, no less than their 
moral convictions and sympathy with Americans who had 
stood up for right against oppression, made her exclaim 
that the children of the Covenanters and the children of 
the Puritans, were indeed of one blood. 

They presented to Mrs. Stowe at this meeting a handsome 
offering, in behalf of the slaves, of gold coin in a beautifully 
embroidered purse. 

The Americans were shown the town the next day. The 
Cathedral, the Bridge of Balgounie, built in the time of 
Eobert Brace which has a weird prophecy connected with 
it and was written of by Byron, and Kings College, were 
visited, and Mrs. Stowe made a study of the industrial 
school system which was carried on by philanthropic peo- 
ple of the city. She wrote letters home, explaining mi- 
nutely the operation and benefits of the institution, and sug- 
gested that it held many valuable ideas for American 
communities. 

They bade farewell to Aberdeen with real regret, and on 
the way to Dundee, at every station where the train stopped, 
were crowds of people who pressed about the author of 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" with friendly greetings, with thanks 
in the name of humanity, with blessings upon her. Old 
Dundee was " all alive with welcome," and they went with 
the Lord Provost Mr. Thorns, to his residence, where a 
large party had been awaiting them for some time. 

Apparently of " meetings " there was no end, and one 
densely crowded, full of enthusiasm and conducted as the 
others had been, was held that evening in the largest church 
of the city. When they came to the closing hymn Mrs. 



162 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Stowe hoped they would sing Dundee, but whether from 
modesty or because the old national and characteristic 
melodies had given way to modern ones, she was disap- 
pointed. They made a large contribution to the Scottish, 
offering for the succor of American slaves ; and presented 
Mrs. Stowe with a handsome collection of the works of the 
authors in Dundee. 

The next morning there was a breakfast party, com- 
posed mostly of ministers and their wives. After break- 
fast the ladies of the Dundee Anti-Slavery Society called, 
and later the Lord Provost took the American guests out 
in his own carriage, to see the city. From Scottish and 
foreign papers which reported the proceedings wherever 
Professor and Mrs. Stowe appeared, are gleaned testimo- 
nials of the favorable impression every where produced by 
the personality of this American woman. Her sincerity, 
straightforward plain speaking and kind, affectionate spirit, 
took strong hold on the British heart, and the exhilaration 
of feeling which is often sadly lowered by sight of and 
contact with an idealized personality, was deepened and in- 
tensified in the true hearts, who saw in this woman one 
worthy of their love and admiration, in all respects emi- 
nently satisfying to every instinct as to how the author 
of such a book as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" should look and 
speak and feel. 

They returned to Edinburgh, and attended another soiree 
of the workingmen of that city. It need not be dwelt upon, 
as it was quite of the nature of the one in Glasgow and 
served to show most gratify ingly, that the class who were 
coming into decided power in the future were beginning to 
understand themselves. Letters were received, urging Mrs. 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 163 

Stowe to return to Dundee and Glasgow to attend meetings 
in those cities, but the lack of time, and the limitations of 
physical strength, obliged her to decline. 

Professor Stowe and Chas. Beecher had agreed to go back 
to Glasgow to speak at a Temperance Meeting given by the 
students of Glasgow University. Professor Stowe remarked 
that the address tendered them there was "particularly grat- 
ifying on account of its recognition of the use of intoxicating 
drinks as an evil analagous to slave holding, and to be eradi- 
cated by similar means." The rest of the party remained for 
the purpose of seeing Abbotsford, and Dry burgh and Melrose 
Abbeys. Finding herself in the region of the Ettrick, the 
Yarrow and the Tweed, Mrs. Stowe instinctively turned to 
her "Lay of the Last Minstrel," and while dreaming over 
Scott's lines — 

" Call it not vain ; they do not er„ 

Who say that when the poet dies, 
Mute nature mourns her worshiper, 

And celebrates his obsequies." 

the guard called out " Melrose " and they found it rained. 
They moved with some haste, for they were to "do" the 
three places in one day and as she wittily said, " There was 
no time for sentiment; it was a business affair that must be 
looked in the face promptly if we meant to get through. 
Ejaculations of poetry could of course be thrown in, as Wil- 
liam of Deloraine pattered his prayers while riding." Her 
account of the visit as seen in a letter, is a delightful com- 
bination of the practical, reminiscent and appreciative, of 
the poetic and picturesque, which is quite unrivalled in 
modern travel letters, and might still serve as the pleasant- 
est guide possible, to those interesting localities. 

Walking back from Dryburgh through the village, they 



1G4 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

saw a knot of respectable looking laboring men who con- 
ferred together, and cast curious glances towards them. 
One at last approached and asked respectfully if that were 
Mrs. Stowe. When she answered they all exclaimed heart- 
ily, ''Madam, ye're right welcome to Scotland," and stood 
with hats in hand, while the chief speaker begged them to 
do him the favor to step into his cottage hard by, for a little 
rest and refreshment after their ramble. To this they as- 
sented with alacrity, and entering the neat stone house, took 
the comely wife by surprise. She bustled about to serve a 
cup of tea, meanwhile lamenting that she could not have 
had the best room open. They stayed long enough to talk 
pleasantly with the husband and wife, to see their children 
who came rushing in, rosy cheeked, from school, and hear 
that they all know Topsy and Eva, the book having been 
read aloud to the family by the "Gude Mon." 

" Ah " said he, " such a time as we had, when we were 
reading the book ; whiles they were greeting, and whiles in 
a rage." 

Could the simple Scotchman have more perfectly de- 
scribed the condition of thousands who had read, and still 
read, the book ? 

The day after they returned from Melrose they spent 
riding about and had two engagements for the evening, one 
at a party at the home of Mr. Douglas of Cavers and 
another at a public Temperance soiree. The Laird who 
entertained them was a man of good family, a large landed 
proprietor, a zealous reformer and a devout Christian. At 
his house the servants assembled in the main hall to meet 
Mrs. Stowe and the Temperance meeting was large and con- 
ducted by distinguished people. All the clergymen of 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 165 

Edinburgh were there, and Lady Carstairs, Sir Henry and 
Lady Moncrief, Dr. Guthrie, and Dr. John Brown, were 
among those presented to her. 

In Scotland the cause of freedom and temperance seemed 
to be one ; quite in contrast to the ideas of modern apostles 
of moral as well as physical free agency, who hotly claim 
that any restraint upon a man's right to make a beast of 
himself through alcoholic intemperance, directly controverts 
the sacred privileges of humanity. The principle of con- 
servative non-interference in the wrongs of mankind "con- 
stitutional " or self inflicted, seemed not to have obtained in 
the British Islands. They saw not the reverse side of a 
national liberty which in America insisted upon (as it still 
insists) perfect liberty in soul-suicide, while then hesitat- 
ing to object to the enslavement of a whole race. They 
looked with clear eyes through the quibbles which ofteu 
envelop a vital question, straight to the principle of the 
greatest good to the greatest number, which is God's prin- 
ciple in the mighty laws of the universe. 

The next day, Professor and Mrs. Stowe called upon 
many people, among them, Lord and Lady Gainsborough, 
who was one of the queen's household then staying at 
Edinburgh. They called upon Sir William Hamilton and 
his wife, and he and Professor Stowe were soon deep in dis- 
cussions on German, English, Scotch and American meta- 
physics in which Dr. Stowe had a remarkable insight and 
was particularly well versed. Mrs. Stowe says that every- 
where in good society, the conversation turned upon the 
condition of the laboring classes, and ideas and plans for 
their education and moral betterment were fashionable 
themes. 



166 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

In spite of the rain which fell fitfully and hung in the 
air as a mist, Mrs. Stowe walked about the estate, and ran 
and scrambled to sightly points, seeing Roslin Castle in the 
distance and finding the ground in certain dells, spotted 
with yellow primroses. Then for the first time she saw the 
heather spreading over rocks and clinging about the gnarled 
roots of ancient trees. It was not in flower, as it blooms 
in July and August, and her Scotch friends were at a loss 
to understand her joy over its unobtrusive greenness. 

After that, they went to see George Combe, the eminent 
physiologist, and then by special invitation to " Classic 
Hawtkornden," whither Lady Drummond's carriage con- 
veyed them. 

So utterly worn out with sight-seeing and the excitement 
of the honors heaped upon them since their arrival at Liv- 
erpool were the Stowe party, that they resolved on leaving 
Edinburgh to seek some quiet retreat and, keeping their 
identity a secret, get somewhere "-away from the madding 
crowd." 

In a letter written to her brother Henry, Mrs. Stowe said, 
" remembering your Sunday at Stratford, I proposed that 
we should go there." 

Their friend Mr. Joseph Sturge of Birmingham had cor- 
dially invited them to visit him. So, as Stratford was away 
from the line of the railroad they decided to stay with him, 
advising him of that intention in a note which enjoined the 
strictest secrecy as to their whereabouts. By Preston Pans, 
where was fought the celebrated battle by Dunbar, where 
Cromwell told his army to " trust in God and keep their 
powder dry;" through Berwick-on-Tweed and Newcastle- 
on-Tyne ; by the old gates and towers of York, and in view 



UNCLE TOMS CABIN. 167 

of Durham Cathedral in the distance, they pursued their 
journey. At Newcastle and several other places, they were 
approached by friendly strangers who waited at the stations, 
many bringing bouquets of choice flowers. 

As they had never seen Mr. Sturge it became an interest- 
ing question how they were to know him at the station at 
Birmingham, but Charles Beecher insisted that instinct 
would tell them, and in a few moments he pitched upon a 
cheerful middle-aged gentleman, with a decided though un- 
obtrusive broad brim to his hat, and they were soon trotting 
away to his place at Edgbaston, feeling Yery snug and well 
content that they had so successfully eluded the pleasantly 
curious crowds, which everywhere else had greeted them 
in England and Scotland. Mr. Sturge was a zealous advo- 
cate of the anti-slavery cause, an ardent disciple of the prin- 
ciples of peace, and a warm friend of Elihu Burritt, the 
Connecticut man, known as the " learned blacksmith," who 
was then in Great Britain, preaching his doctrines of uni- 
versal brotherhood. 

The visit to Stratford was a most enjoyable one, 
filled with thoughts of the old days of tradition, and 
full of topics of present interest, all clustering about 
the home of the bard of Avon. On the way thither 
Mr. Sturge told Mrs. Stowe that there was a friend who 
wished very earnestly to see her and, willing as she always 
was to meet people who had a sincere interest in her and 
the great cause for which she was laboring, she stopped at 
a comfortable house which stood in pleasant grounds, and 
made a call upon an invalid woman who received her with 
deep emotion, even tears, and spoke of the sacredness and 
solemnity of the cause, which from its first conception in 



168 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the times of Wilberforce and Clarkson had lain so near her 
heart. It was a memorable interview and Mrs. Stowe came 
away pleased and yet sorrowful, thinking how far from the 
universal feeling exhibited here, was the temper of the pub- 
lic mind in her own country. 

The pleasure felt in traveling, in viewing nature, in meet- 
ing distinguished people, in seeing works of art, in musing 
over by-gone glories, is gauged and tempered by the capa- 
city of the mind to receive impressions, to understand 
causes and effects, to reason out deductions based upon 
facts. How full of deep enthusiasm and appreciation was 
this visit of the Stowes, Charles Beecher, Mrs. George 
Beecher, her son and Mr. Buckingham to the home and 
burial place of Shakespeare, can only be realized with a 
knowledge of their rounded culture, and innate comprehen- 
sion of the truly great in earthly things. Mrs. Stowe 
wrote most intelligently and eloquently of this visit, and, 
apropos of the recent agitation upon the authenticity of 
the plays attributed to Shakespeare, it may be noted that 
she said, — "I have often wondered at that inscription, that 
a mind so sensitive, that had thought so much, and ex- 
pressed thought with such startling power on all the mys- 
teries of death, the grave, and the future world, should 
have found nothing else to inscribe on his grave but this : — 

' Good Friend for Jesus sake forbear, 
To dig ye dust enclosed here. 
Blest be the man that spares these stones, 
And curst be he that moves my bones.' " 

From Stratford they drove to Warwick, familiar to 
modern travelers, and then to Kenilworth, so full of asso- 
ciations of Elizabeth and Leicester, poor Amy Kobsart and 
the rest. Then on to Coventry, with its cathedral and its 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 169 

precious tradition of Lady Godiva. This excursion through 
what is acknowledged to be the most picturesque part of 
England, quite fulfilled Mrs. Stowe's idea of the " old coun- 
try." But in the evening they were again drinking tea in 
Mr. Sturge's cosy parlor in Birmingham, and Elihu Burritt 
came in. Mrs. Stowe described him at that time as in mid- 
dle life, with fair complexion, blue eyes, and air of delicacy, 
and refinement of manners of great gentleness. Her concep- 
tion of " the learned blacksmith " had, by natural association 
of ideas, been something altogether more ponderous and per- 
emptory, but she listened with deep interest to the exposition 
of his plan of operations which tended towards universal good 
feeling, and peace and good will among nations and races, as 
between individual souls. His ideas, which seemed Utopian 
to many hard headed people, Mrs. Stowe testified had been of 
great effect in smoothing over international disagreements, 
in more than one instance, preventing ill considered war 
between England and France. Charles Beecher had been 
with Mr. Sturge during the previous day to a meeting of 
Friends, and the evening was passed in lively discussion of 
various correlative themes. 

The fact that the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" 
was in Birmingham, could not long be suppressed, and 
the morning before she left, she met a circle of Friends 
who composed the Abolition society of the town, a 
guild which was of long standing, dating back to Wil- 
berforce and Clarkson. A throng of friends accompa- 
nied them to the station, and greatly to their pleasure Elihu 
Burritt went with them on the train to London. Mrs. 
George Beecher and her son, who had gone on before them 
and taken lodgings near Bose Cottage in Walworth, where 



170 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the Stovves were to be entertained, met them with the an- 
nouncement that they were all invited to the Lord Mayor's 
dinner that night. " What," said Mrs. Stowe, " the Lord 
Mayor of London that I used to read about in Whittington 
and his Cat?" So strong and well adjusted was her 
mental ballast of child -lore, home associations and unexag- 
gerated self-respect, that instead of feeling elated at the 
honor doubtless about to be offered her, she listened only 
to the echo in her ears of the old chime of youthful 
story, wherein all the bells of London rang so merrily, say- 
ing— 

" Turn again Whittington, 
Thrice lord mayor of London." 

It was the annual dinner given to the judges of England 
by the lord mayor, and there were the whole English bar 
and hosts of distinguished people besides. The Stowes were 
accompanied by their hosts, Eev. and Mrs. Binney, and soon 
entered the Mansion House and a large illuminated hall 
supported by pillars. Chandeliers were glittering, servants 
with powdered heads and gold laced coats hurried to and 
fro, a throng of ladies and gentlemen in evening dress 
moved about within, in conversation which came to their 
ears through several rooms, in a polite din. Titled guests 
arrived and were announced, and the lord Chief Justice and 
the other eminent barristers, came in their black small 
clothes with swords by their sides, silk stockings and 
their three-cornered hats under their arms, many of them 
with their hair tied behind in small silk bags. Mrs. Stowe 
heard her name passed along from one lackey to the next 
until it came to the lord mayor's ears and they entered, 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 171 

being very gracefully received by him and the lady mayor- 
ess. Mrs. Stowe was recognized by many of the company 
and was instantly surrounded by eminent persons seeking 
an introduction. Among others Lord Chief Baron Pollock, 
a very dignified gentleman, dressed in black velvet, with 
frills of priceless, (and aristocratically dirty,) point lace at 
his bosom and wristbands, sat down by her, telling her he 
had been reading the legal part of the " Key to Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," remarking several decisions as having made 
a deep impression upon his mind. He said that nothing 
had ever given him so clear an idea of the essential nature 
of slavery. Soon the room was a perfect jam of legal and 
literary notabilities and there was scarce room to speak to 
the scores who were presented to the American party. 

About ten o'clock dinner was announced, and they were 
conducted into a splendid hall where the tables were laid. 
The lord mayor and his wife, had on their right hand the 
judges and on their left the American Minister Mr. Ingersoll, 
while high " above the salt," and directly opposite to 
Charles Dickens, whom she then saw for the first time and 
was surprised to find so young, sat Mrs. Stowe. The busi- 
ness of toast drinking, which was reduced to the nicest pos- 
sible system, began. After the usual loyal toasts, the 
health of the American Minister was proposed, to which 
Mr. Ingersoll responded handsomely, and the American 
legal profession received a very handsome compliment from 
Lord Chief Baron Pollock, who spoke particularly of Judge 
Story, making Mrs. Stowe's heart warm with responsive 
feeling. 

Then Justice Talfourd proposed the literati of the two 
countries under the head of Anglo-Saxon Literature. He 



172 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

made a handsome allusion to " Uncle Tom's Cabin," and to 
Mr. Dickens' works, to which that gentleman replied in a 
graceful and humorous strain, giving Mrs. Stowe a full 
measure of appreciation and thanks. 

They arose from the table about midnight, and the ladies 
withdrew to the drawing-room, where Mrs. Stowe, among 
other distinguished ladies, met Mrs. Dickens. Mrs. Stowe 
saw in Mrs. Dickens a good specimen of the genuine English 
woman; tall, large and well developed, with a fine healthy- 
color and an air of cheerfulness and reliability. A friend 
whispered that she was as observing and fond of humor, as 
her husband. Plainly the shadow of the trouble that later 
separated her from him had not come upon her. It at 
least was not perceptible to the eyes of one who always 
looked for the bright and good things in life, where they 
could possibly be found. When the gentlemen joined them 
Mrs. Stowe had a pleasant conversation with Mr. Dickens 
and always retained a most favorable impression of him. 

The Lord Mayor left the Mansion House to go to the 
House of Commons, and enthusiastic brother Charles 
Beecher proposed to " make a night of it " and follow 
him, but Mrs. Stowe found it necessary to get rest in sleep. 
They were not used to the London fashion of turning night 
into day, but she has since said that if she could but have 
had a relay of bodies to change as one puts on a fresh 
suit of clothes when one is used up, she would have been 
quite willing to go on sight-seeing forever. 

The following morning Mrs. Follen, whom with her 
husband Dr. Follen, Mrs. Stowe had known in Boston as 
ardent abolitionists, who then lived at West End, called 
upon her and they had a long talk together. That evening 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 173 

the Stowes dined with the Earl of Carlisle. He had been 
in America and was one of the first and few English trav- 
elers who have viewed and written of this country with 
appreciation. Leaving such important matters as the break- 
ing of a breakfast egg at the wrong end, to the Trollopes 
and a host of large minded visitors who have since discussed 
the manners and culture of Americans, Lord Carlisle dis- 
cerned and interpreted the characteristic strength and pos- 
sibilities of this growing country. He had not disguised 
his convictions on the anti -slavery question while in the 
United States, and wrote an introduction to an English edi- 
tion of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." They drove to Lord Car- 
lisle's in the usual drizzling London rain, crossing Waterloo 
Bridge, and began to realize something of the vast extent 
of the city. Altogether the most striking objects passed 
in this evening ride were the gin-shops, flaming and flaring 
in the most conspicuous positions, with plate glass windows 
and glaring lights, thronged with men, women and children 
drinking destruction. The number and size of these liquor 
saloons was apalling to the Americans, who saw in them 
an institution which was of greater detriment to the nation 
than that of slavery lately abolished ; an institution, which 
under the banner of personal liberty permitted a voluntary 
enslavement of body and soul, more crushing and complete 
than any enforced servitude could ever possibly be ; an insti- 
tution beside which the institution of negro slavery it were 
as child's play to abolish, for while in one case the majority 
of mankind and the victims were joined against it, in this, 
the victims were its willing and persistent defenders and 
had with them the appetites and tendencies of all the low- 
er moral nature of mankind. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

mb. arthur helps at lord carlisle's dinner party, 
mrs. stowe's impressions of the company. meeting 
of the london bible society at exeter hall. lord 
shaftesbury in the chair. sight - seeing. cele- 
brated people. the great meeting at stafford 
house. discription of a luncheon at the finest 
palace in england thirty-five years ago. lord 
Shaftesbury's speech and presentation of "the 
address of the women of england to the women 
of america on the subject of slavery." a grand 
historic document. the bracelet of massive gold 
given by the duchess of sutherland to mrs. stowe. 
the great anti-slavery meeting at exeter hall. 

It was to be a family party at Lord Carlisle's, but it 
embraced such a noble company of titled men and women 
as is seldom seen, even in the best families of the Eng- 
lish peerage. There was the beautiful Duchess of Suther- 
land and her sisters, Lady Dover, Lady Lascelles, and Lady 
Labouchere, the Earl of Burlington and the Duke of Dev- 
onshire, all near relatives of the host. The only person 
present not of the family, was Mrs. Stowe's discriminating 
reviewer and correspondent, Mr. Arthur Helps. She 
expected to see in him a venerable sage who contem- 
plated life from the door of his hermit cell, but instead here 
was a genial young gentleman of not more than twenty-five, 
174 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 175 

who looked as if he might enjoy a joke as well as any man 
living, and it transpired that he did. Mrs. Stowe had the 
place of honor next to Lord Carlisle. Mr. Helps came 
next, and proved himself a very agreeable and amusing 
neighbor. 

When the servant passed wine, it was observed that all 
of the Stowe party left their glasses untouched. The 
temperance question was raised, and the company showed 
much interest in the Maine law, then in force in that State. 
Later, in the drawing-room, Mrs. Stowe was presented to 
the aged Countess of Carlisle, the Earl's mother, a lady of 
great distinction and loveliness of character. The house was 
everywhere adorned with works of art by the best masters, 
and Mrs. Stowe often recalled to mind a Rembrandt which 
hung over the fireplace, and one or two Cuyps, which she 
thought might have been painted in America, so perfectly 
did they show the hazy atmosphere of our October days. 
After the gentlemen rejoined them, there came the Duke 
and Duchess of Argyle and Lord and Lady Blantyre to pay 
their respects. These ladies were both the daughters of 
the Duchess of Sutherland. The Duke of Argyle, whose 
place had been seen in Scotland, was then a member of 
the British cabinet, though at a very early age, and had 
already distinguished himself as a writer of various works 
bearing upon political economy, as well as ecclesiastical 
history. 

They formed an intelligent company, and the conversa- 
tion fell upon American men of letters. Particularly were 
Emerson, Longfellow, and Hawthorne admired, and Pres- 
cott seemed to be a special favorite. Mrs. Stowe after- 
wards said — "I felt at the moment that we never value our 



176 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

literary men so much as when placed in a circle of intel- 
ligent foreigners; it is particularly so with Americans, be- 
cause we have nothing but our men and women to glory 
in — no court, no nobles, no castles, ho cathedrals; except 
we produce distinguished specimens of humanity, we are 
nothing." 

Did not her own presence worthily demonstrate that 
besides these then named, America had much to be proud 
of? 

The quietness, grace and culture of this evening circle, 
the air of refined and generous hospitality, and the evident 
sincerity of character shown in every person, made it a 
most delightful occasion. Mrs. Stowe afterwards declared 
that she never felt herself more at home, even among the 
Quakers. Nobility of character, and grace of hospitality, 
are fortunately not the exclusive possession of aristocracy, 
though they certainly reflect beauty upon high social posi- 
tion. 

The next morning, although very tired, Mrs. Stowe 
attended the meeting of the Bible Society. It was anni- 
versary week, and a confluence of all the religious societies 
of London met at Exeter Hall, with Lord Shaftesbury, 
whom Mrs. Stowe then saw for the first time, in the chair. 
Mrs. Stowe has related with great enjoyment, the mild sur- 
prise with which the English people read certain Ameri- 
can newspapers of that period, which, now that they be- 
came aware of Lord Shaftesbury's sympathy with anti- 
slavery, exhorted him to confine his attention to English 
affairs, to look into the factory system of his own country 
and explore the collieries where human beings were worked 
as slaves, as if he had been doing anything else for more 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 177 

than twenty years. She attributed their ignorance as pos- 
sibly due to the facility with which titled Englishmen 
change their names, the Earl of Shaftesbury having 
been in the House of Commons as Lord Ashley, and upon 
the death of his father entered the House of Lords under 
his hereditary title of Lord Shaftesbury. However, she 
could not wonder that the contrast which a certain very 
staid religious paper in the United States, drew between 
Lord Ashley and Lord Shaftesbury— not at all to the credit 
of the latter— did not strike the people over there, as par- 
ticularly apposite! 

Another day or two filled with sightseeing, visiting pic- 
ture galleries, and meeting celebrated people, among them 
Martin Farquhar Tupper, and sweet Mary Howitt, and 
Mrs. Stowe was so utterly worn out that, in her own words 
" There was scarcely a chip of her left." 

But on Saturday, the eighth day of May, came the great 
meeting at Stafford House, which stood on the borders of 
St. James Park opposite to Buckingham Place, overlook- 
ing the Park and beautiful gardens on the other side. 

The Stowe party was received by two stately High- 
landers, in full costume, who stood at the door. A multi- 
tude of servants in livery, with powdered hair, and all the 
grandeur of official importance, bowed and waved them 
through the entrance rooms, passing their names along in 
sonorous tones with great dignity of manner. At last the 
dining room was reached, and as no person was pres- 
ent, they had ample time to look about and compose them- 
selves. The Duchess of Sutherland soon appeared. She 
was tall, with a stately bearing, a fullness of outline, and a 
noble air. Her fair complexion, blond hair and full lips, 
12 



178 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

spoke of Saxon blood. In her youth she might have been 
a Rowena, with however, much warmth and expressiveness 
added to that rather luke-warm character. She was dressed 
in white muslin, with a drab velvet bodice slashed with 
satin of the same color. Her luxuriant hair was confined 
by a gold and diamond net, on the back part of her head. 
She looked even handsomer by daylight than she had the 
evening before, and received them with the grace and cor- 
diality which were preeminently her own. 

Thomas Carlisle said, " Show me the man you honor, I 
know by that better than by any other, what kind of a 
man you yourself are." Mrs. Stowe's character is in no 
way so clearly exhibited, as by her description of the peo- 
ple and the events which most moved her. While mere 
pomp, imposing social honors, offered by mere celebrity 
seekers, or compliments from royalty itself, separated from 
true worth and sincerity, would have utterly failed to 
touch a responsive chord, these distinguished members 
of the highest nobility were tested by her standard of 
worth, and then accorded a full appreciative, enthusiastic 
admiration and love — a love in no way different, nor tinged 
with one deeper shade of pleasure, than what she felt, in 
response to the beating hearts of the honest Scotch people, 
or returned to truly noble hearts and minds wherever met. 

The Duke, who was the head of one of the Highland 
clans, was seen to be a tall, slender man of delicate health 
with a chronic deafness which, while preventing him from 
entering much into general society, did not preclude his ten- 
der interest in the cause of humanity, nor hinder his 
devising and executing schemes for the benefit of his nu- 
merous dependents. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 179 

Here may be noted a little episode, entirely feminine in 
its character which, while we smile, affords a feeling of 
nearness and sympathy with these two women. They rep- 
resented the highest peerage of England, and the intellectual 
queenship of America, yet consulted as earnestly, in sweet 
privacy and confidence, upon a matter of dress and 
social etiquette as the simplest and most womanly 
creatures of us all. Mrs. Stowe modestly attired, sought 
a private conversation with the Duchess in her boudoir and 
frankly confessed a little anxiety respecting the arrange- 
ments for the day. Having lived all her life in such a 
sequestered manner, she naturally felt some apprehension 
as to the things expected of her upon such an occasion. 

With her characteristic, straightforward action, she said as 
much, and asked for direction. The Duchess, who 
was notably unconventional in her manners, pressed her 
hand and begged her to be entirely easy, as if among her 
own friends, which they would be. She told her she had 
invited a few guests to luncheon, and that afterwards others 
would call ; that later there would be a short address from 
the ladies of England, read by Lord Shaftesbury, which 
would require no answer. She adjusted a ribbon on Mrs. 
Stowe's bonnet, fastened an escaping curl in place, as a 
sister might do, and they returned to the drawing room, 
where friends had already begun to assemble. The 
announcement at the door of the names of the guests, 
obviated any necessity for introductions ; English society 
fully understanding the rule that "the roof" was suffi- 
cient guarantee to all its guests, of the desirability of know- 
ing each other. 

The Duke and Duchess of Argyle, Lord and Lady Blan- 



ISO THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

tyre, the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford, and Lord 
and Lady Campbell arrived first. Then followed Lord 
Shaftesbury with his charming Lady, and her father and 
mother, Lord and Lady Palmerston. Lord Palmerston was 
of middle height, with a keen black eye and black hair 
streaked with gray. Mrs. Stowe found him quite what she 
had expected from his public actions, and in talking witli 
him, remembered vividly how often she had heard her 
father, Dr. Lyman Beecher, and Professor Stowe, exulting 
over his foreign dispatches, by their home fireside. The 
Marquis of Lansdowne, formerly known as Lord Henry 
Pettes, who, with Wilberforce and Clarkson had taken so 
prominent a part in the abolition of the English slave 
trade came, and also Lord John Russell, Lord Grenville 
and Mr. Gladstone, who was two or three years her senior. 

When luncheon was announced the Duke of Sutherland 
gave his arm to Mrs. Stowe, and her neighbor on the other 
hand, was Lord Lansdowne, who conversed very intelli- 
gently with her, about men and things in America. 

Mrs. Stovve's description of a luncheon at the finest palace 
in England thirty-five years ago is a notable one, and of 
especial interest to American society people, who of late 
are coming to place such a high value upon manners and 
social usages. Her Grace's chef, bore the reputation of be- 
ing the first artist of his class in England. The preparation 
and serving of the viands was Parisian in taste and fertility 
of ideas, and Mrs. Stowe pertinently remarked that, " the 
profession thus sublimated, bears the same proportion to 
the old substantial English cookery, that Mozart's music 
does to Handel's, or Midsummer Night's Dream, to Para- 
dise Losi.*" 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 181 

The luncheon was then as now, a social occasion which 
was less elaborate and ceremonious, than dinner. The 
ladies sat down without removing their bonnets, everything 
was placed upon the table at once and the children were ad- 
mitted to the table, even in the presence of guests. The ser- 
vants moved noiselessly to and fro, taking up the dishes 
and offering them to each guest. One of the dainties 
served at this luncheon was a plover's nest, precisely as the 
plover made it, with five tiny, speckled, blue eggs in it. 
It was then a " fad " in table fashions, to thus set the deli- 
cate eggs before a guest, but it had such a sylvan pictur- 
esqueness and realism about it, that it brought up to at 
least one of the company, memories of robins' nests in the 
old sunny orchard at home, and she could not profane the 
image by eating one of the eggs. 

It was remarkable how the personal aspect of the men 
and women who graced this occasion, differed from those 
of equally great persons in America — how far less they 
bore the marks of age, than men in America who had sim- 
ilarly been engaged in affairs of state or intellectual pro- 
gress. They wore an air of freshness and youthful alert- 
ness, which was a marvel to the visitors, used to the marks 
of anxiety and care, which deeply lined the faces of Amer- 
ican statesmen and men of letters. They hardly knew 
whether to attribute it to the less exhausting climate, 
or the solidity of political institutions and ideas which rest 
firm, where ours are constantly shifting and drifting, like 
the sand. The tone of this highest social life, was delight- 
fully simple and unaffected. It was friendly, natural, and 
sincere. They gave no evidence of anxiety as to deport- 
ment, either in eating or in conversation. They talked like 



182 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

people who thought more of what they were saying than 
how they said it, and in this simplicity and kindness, which 
will alone induce a natural perfection of manners, they 
found the Americans, whom they honored, similarly 
gifted. 

After luncheon the whole party ascended the grand stair- 
case — then acknowledged the most magnificent in Europe — 
to the picture gallery. This room, which is a hundred feet 
long by forty wide — was surmounted by a dome richly fin- 
ished with golden palm trees and elaborate carving. The 
hall was lighted in the evening bv a row of lights 
placed outside the ground glass of the dome, which was 
thrown down in brilliant radiance by reflectors, without 
the usual oppressive heat of gas light. The gallery was 
peculiarly rich in paintings of the Spanish school, among 
them two superb Murillos taken from convents by Marshal 
Soult during the time of his career in Spain, of whom it 
may be said, as of his chief, Napoleon, that if he was no 
better than a magnificent robber, he at least stole with 
taste. 

There was a painting by Paul de la Eoche of the Earl 
of Stafford led forth to execution, the original of the prints 
so well known at that time in America, and one by a 
Flemish artist representing Christ under examination by 
Caiphas. It was a candle light scene, with only two faces, 
the calm and resolute, though downcast and foreseeing face 
of Christ, and the vehement uoturned countenance of the 
questioning high priest. Mrs. Stowe often referred to this 
wonderful picture and said that its presence there in the 
midst of that scene, was deeply affecting to her. 

The immense apartment began to fill with guests. Many 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 153 

presentations were made, among them: Archbishop 
Whateley with his wife and daughter, Macauley with two 
of his sisters, Milman the poet and historian, the Bishop of 
Oxford, Chevalier Bunsen and the Baroness, and many 
more. 

Among other celebrities Mrs. Stowe met the historian 
Sir Archibald Allison, whom she described as a tall, fine 
looking man, of very commanding presence. 
^ Shortly after the Duke of Sutherland presented Mrs. 
Stowe to the distinguished company, composed of lords 
and ladies, peers of the realm and great commoners, men 
of high standing in church and state, and women of beauty 
and intellectual endowments, the greatest in all England. " 

Our Harriet Beecher Stowe bowed simply, but her eyes 
shone with pleasure and heartfelt gratitude that, as she has 
since expressed it, the most magnificent of England's pal- 
aces had that day opened its doors to the slave. Alwavs 
thinking of herself as the instrument in the hands of Prov- 
idence, merely as the one to whom a great message had 
been entrusted, she forgot her own personality and°grate- 
fully received this overwhelming ovation as a greeting par- 
ticularly directed to American bondmen. 

She sat quietly in a chair which had been conve- 
niently placed for her, closely attended by the Duchess 
of Sutherland and a group of distinguished ladies, while 
the imposing company, of the most eminent and intelli- 
gent men and women in England, sat and stood, filling the 
grand gallery. In a few words, speaking for the Duchess 
of Sutherland and the ladies of the two committees ap- 
pointed to conduct " The Address of the Women of Eng- 
land to the Women of America on the Subject of Slavery," 



184 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the Duke gave her welcome, and called upon Lord Shaftes- 
bury to make the presentation of the great testimonial 
which had had its first inception with him. 

Lord Shaftesbury arose, and reading the short prelimin- 
ary address, presented, to Mrs. Stowe what is probably the 
most remarkable testimonial ever tendered to any person. 

The address was upon vellum, handsomely inscribed in 
illuminated text in these words. 

" THE AFFECTIONATE AND CHRISTIAN ADDRESS OF MANY 
THOUSANDS OF WOMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND TO 
THEIR SISTERS^ THE WOMEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
AMERICA. 

" A COMMON ORIGIN, A COMMON FAITH, AND, WE SINCERELY 
BELIEVE. A COMMON CAUSE, URGE US AT THE PRESENT MO- 
MENT TO ADDRESS YOU ON THE SUBJECT OF THAT SYSTEM OF 
NEGRO SLAVERY WHICH STILL PREVAILS SO EXTENSIVELY, 
AND EVEN UNDER KINDLY DISPOSED MASTERS, WITH SUCH 
FRIGHTFUL RESULTS, IN MANY OF THE VAST REGIONS OF THE 
WESTERN WORLD. WE WILL NOT DWELL ON THE ORDINARY 
TOPICS — ON THE PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION ; ON THE 
ADVANCE OF FREEDOM EVERYWHERE ; ON THE RIGHTS AND 
REQUIREMENTS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ; BUT WE 
APPEAL TO YOU VERY SERIOUSLY TO REFLECT, AND TO ASK 
•COUNSEL OF GOD, HOW FAR SUCH A STATE OF THINGS IS IN 
ACCORDANCE WITH HIS HOLY WORD, THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS 
OF IMMORTAL SOULS, AND THE PURE AND MERCIFUL SPIRIT 
OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 

WE DO NOT SHUT OUR EYES TO THE DIFFICULTIES, NAY 
THE DANGERS THAT MIGHT BESET THE IMMEDIATE ABOLITION 
OF THAT LONG ESTABLISHED SYSTEM; WE SEE AND ADMIT 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 185 

THE NECESSITY OF PEEPARATION FOR SO GREAT AN EVENT ; 
BUT IN SPEAKING OF THE INDISPENSABLE PRELIMINARIES, WE 
CANNOT BE SILENT ON THOSE LAWS OF YOUR COUNTRY WHICH, 
IN DIRECT CONTRAVENTION OF GOD'S OWN LAW, INSTITUTED 
IN THE TIME OF MAN'S INNOCENCY, DENY IN EFFECT, TO THE 
SLAVE THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE WITH ALL ITS JOYS, RIGHTS 
AND OBLIGATIONS ; WHICH SEPARATE, AT THE WILL OF THE 
MASTER, THE WIFE FROM THE HUSBAND AND THE CHILDREN 
FROM THE PARENTS. NOR CAN WE BE SILENT ON THAT 
AWFUL SYSTEM WHICH EITHER BY STATUTE OR CUSTOM, 
INTERDICTS TO ANY RACE OF MEN, OR ANY PORTION OF THE 
HUMAN FAMILY, EDUCATION IN THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL 
AND THE ORDINANCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 

A REMEDY APPLIED TO THESE TWO EVILS ALONE WOULD 
COMMENCE THE AMELIORATION OF THEIR SAD CONDITION. 
WE APPEAL TO YOU THEN AS SISTERS, AS WIVES, AND AS 
MOTHERS, TO RAISE YOUR VOICES TO YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS, 
AND YOUR PRAYERS TO GOD, FOR THE REMOVAL OF THIS 
AFFLICTION FROM THE CHRISTIAN WORLD. WE DO NOT SAY 
THESE THINGS IN A SPIRIT OF SELF COMPLACENCE, AS THOUGH 
OUR NATION WERE FREE FROM THE GUILT IT PERCEIVES IN 
OTHERS. WE ACKNOWLEDGE WITH GRIEF AND SHAME OUR 
HEAVY SHARE IN THIS GREAT SIN. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT 
OUR FORE-FATHERS INTRODUCED, NAY, COMPELLED THE ADOP- 
TION OF SLAVERY IN THOSE MIGHTY COLONIES. WE HCTMBLY 
CONFESS IT BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD ; AND IT IS BECAUSE WE 
SO DEEPLY FEEL, AND SO UNFEIGNEDLY AVOW, OUR OWN 
COMPLICITY, THAT WE NOW VENTURE TO IMPLORE YOUR AID 
TO WIPE AWAY OUR COMMON CRIME, AND OUR COMMON DIS- 
HONOR." 

The Testimonial, consisting of twenty-four large, bound 



186 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

volumes, containing the names of nearly six hundred thou- 
sand British women, beginning with the nobility, of which 
there were many hundred, continuing with the names of 
wives of prominent commoners, and finishing with thousands 
of conscientious English speaking women whose hearts 
were full of the cause, was formally presented to Mrs. Stowe 
by Lord Shaftesbury. Then the Duchess of Sutherland 
arose and in a few graceful words made her own gift, 
which was of a bracelet made of massive links of fine gold, 
typical of the slave's fetters. As she took the chain from 
her own fair round wrist and clasped it upon the small arm 
of Harriet Beecher Stowe she said, " We trust it is the 
memorial of a chain that is soon to be broken." 

These words were inscribed upon one of the large links. 
Upon another was engraved the date of the abolition of the 
English slave trade, and on another, the date of the abolition 
of slavery in the last of the English territories. The beau- 
tiful Duchess begged Mrs. Stowe to. keep it, until she should 
be able to place upon its remaining links, the date of the 
emancipation of the slaves in America. 

Mrs. Stowe acknowledged that she never expected to live 
to see that day. But the mills of God were grinding faster 
than she knew. 

The accounts of this memorable occasion having been 
published in the English papers, sundry American journals 
intimated very plainly that it was a political movement ; 
but that accusation was strongly denied by Mrs. Stowe, who 
declared that it had its origin in the deep religious feeling 
of Lord Shaftesbury, a man whose whole life was devoted 
to the abolition of white-labor slavery of Great Britain; 
who explored the darkness of the collieries, and counted the 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 137 

weary steps of the cotton spinners ; who penetrated the dens 
where the insane were tortured in darkness with cold and 
stripes, and the loathsome alleys of squalid London haunted 
with fever and filth, with cholera, and moral plagues not 
less to be dreaded. It is well known that when in the 
Parliament of England, he was pleading for women in the 
collieries, who were harnessed like beasts of burden, and 
made to draw heavy loads through miry and dark passages 
and for children, who often at three years of age were taken 
to labor where the sun never shines, he was met with fur- 
ious opposition, and accused of being a disorganizer, and 
of wishing to restore the dark ages. 

Very similar accusations and injustices were done him 
during the seventeen years campaign which at last resulted 
in the triumphant passage of the celebrated "factory bill." 
He was therefore not surprised that misconstruction should 
have been put upon his espousal of the anti-slavery cause, 
and the welcome prepared through his means by the women 
of Great Britain for the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 
Neither did the Duchess of Sutherland allow herself to 
be disturbed by the ridiculous stories and scandals, which 
found their way into American prints, immediately fol- 
lowing the event just described, recognizing as the ani- 
mus of them, the bitterness and impotent rage which filled 
the hearts of the unknown writers, because of the glorious 
support given in England to a woman who appeared as the 
most eloquent exponent of a cause which, thus far, had re- 
ceived little support from society in the United States. 

As among the minor, though extremely gratifying at- 
tentions, shown Mrs. Stowe at the Duchess of Sutherland's, 
it may be mentioned that a pretty Quakeress, of mature 



188 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

A 

years, made a little speech to the author of "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin, '' and hung upon her arm an embroidered reticule in 
which some of the lirst English anti-slavery tracts had been 
carried for distribution. 

An artist named Burnand, a young man who had 
attained some celebrity, presented her with a fine cameo 
head of the great abolitionist Wilberforce, cut from a 
statue in Westminster Abbey. He also begged leave 
to make a bust of Mrs. Stowe, and though she de- 
clared that, considering the melancholy results of former 
attempts, it made her laugh to think of sitting for a new 
likeness, she was so entreated by her friends that she finally 
consented. Her host gladly allowed his study to be turned 
into a studio, and the work began. 

Then came another sculptor on the heels of the first, who 
told her he had a bust of her begun, which was to be 
finished in Parian and published, whether she sat for it or 
not, though, he added ingenuously, of course he much 
preferred to have an occasional look at her. So her host 
told him he might come too, and for some days she was 
perched upon a stool, dividing her glances and her conver- 
sation between the two enthusiastic artists, one of whom 
was taking one side of her face and one the other. 

Mrs. Stowe went with a party, in which was Lord John 
Russell, to visit a model school for children of the poorer 
classes, and with Mrs. Cropper and Lady Hatherton, to 
visit the poet Rogers in his home, which was a perfect 
cabinet of rare and costly works of art, and adorned with 
choice books. Rogers was then old and quite feeble, but he 
welcomed her most cordially, and apparently took great 
pleasure in her admiration of the rare pictures, marbles, 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIX. 189 

vases, gems and statuary, that constituted his wonderful 
collection. He presented her with his poems, beautifully 
illustrated by Turner, with his autograph upon the fly 
leaf. 

With the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, the Stowe 
party visited many rare collections of paintings. They 
spent an evening at Lord John Kussell's, and became so 
thoroughly wearied with a succession of pleasures, that 
even Professor Stowe succumbed and ingloriously went to 
bed, remaining there several days to recover from the 
strain upon body and mind which this memorable visit had 
induced. 

Mrs. Stowe was invited to breakfast with Sir Charles and 
Lady Trevelyan at Welbourne Terrace, and in a letter to 
her daughter, described some of the eminent literary peo- 
ple whom she met, saying, " In your evening reading cir- 
cles, Macauley, Sidney Smith, and Milman, have long been 
such familiar names, that you will be glad to go with me 
over the scenes." 

Lady Trevelyan was the sister of Thomas Babington 
Macauley, whom Mrs. Stowe described as peculiarly Eng- 
lish in physique, short, stout, and firmly knit, hearty in his 
manner, with a full, round, deep chest voice, who talked 
just as he wrote. He was about fifty, a bachelor, but with 
as unmistakable a social domestic nature as that so charm- 
ingly displayed, under similar circumstances, by our own 
Washington Irving. 

The conversation having turned upon Shakespeare, 
several guests were comparing ideas and some one asked 
Mrs. Stowe which was her favorite play. Before she could 



190 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

reply Macauley quickly answered, " Oh, Mrs. Stowe prefers 
Othello, of course." 

"Why do you think so, my lord" said that lady. 

"Because it is the only drama in which a black man 
runs away with the affections of a white lady, v said the 
essayist, his eyes sparkling with mischievous enjoyment of 
his joke at the expense of the author of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," who with all other abolitionists, had been reviled 
as an amalgamationist. 

Mrs. Stowe was seated at table between Macauley and 
Milman, whom she described as of striking appearance, 
tall, stooping, with a keen black eye, and perfectly white 
hair, a singular and poetic contrast. Having been for many 
years dean of Westminster, he talked most entertainingly 
of its antiquities, and with both men talking almost inces- 
santly upon delightful and instructive topics, Mrs. Stowe 
was sadly tried in her effort to listen with both ears and 
keep the conversations clear and separate. 

The historian, Hallarn, was also present, a quiet retiring 
man, with a tinge of sadness in his face, which suggested the 
shadow of the loss of his son Arthur, the one to whom Ten- 
nyson wrote " In Memoriam." In conversation about this 
breakfast Mrs. Stowe afterwards said, " there were doubtless 
other celebrities there whom I did not know. I was always 
through my visit finding out that I had been with some- 
body very remarkable whom I did not suspect at the 
time." 

Professor and Mrs. Stowe lunched the same day, in the 
early part of May, a time so beautiful in England, at Sur- 
rey parsonage. This chapel and parsonage had been the 
church and residence of the celebrated Eowland Hill, and 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 191 

the then present incumbent, Rev. Mr. Sherman, proved a 
model host. Among the very agreeable company were 
Martin Farquhar Tupper, and the artist Cruikshank, who 
had illustrated several of the English editions of "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin." He asked many questions about the ap- 
pearance of the slaves and the topography of the country 
in Kentucky, as well as the style of the houses, dress of the 
planters' families, and other details. 

It was destined to be their most dissipated day in 
London, for they were engaged to dine at Sir Edward Bux- 
ton's, and by the time she had arrived there Mrs. Stowe was 
was quite exhausted. But she met a number of people 
whom she was exceedingly interested to see, Mr. Samuel 
Gurney, the father of Lady Buxton, who was a brother of 
Elizabeth Fry, with his wife and daughters, all of whom 
had the air of benevolent friendliness, which is character- 
istic of the Quakers ; Dr. Lushington, the venerable asso- 
ciate in Parliament of Wilberforce, some fifty years before; 
Dr. Cunningham; and a master of Harrow School, with 
whom she had a long conversation upon educational litera- 
ture, Greek, and Latin. 

The next evening they dined at Lord Shaftesbury's? 
meeting such guests as Dr. McCall, Hebrew professor in 
King's College, Lord Wriothsley Russell, one of the private 
Chaplains of the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
the Bishop of Tuam, Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Lady 
Stratheden, Lord and Lady Palmerston and others. 

On the 13th of May the Stowe party all went out to Stoke- 
Newington to visit Mr. Alexander, a genial Quaker who 
was a particular friend of Dr. Lyman Beecher, who passed 
many pleasant hours there when in England. With him 



192 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

they attended the Congregational Union, which was then 
in session, occupying seats upon the platform, where they 
were the cynosure of hundreds of interested eyes. After a 
resolution introduced hy Mr. Binney, expressive of love and 
good fellowship with their American brethren, the Eev. 
John Angell made an address glowing with enthusiasm and 
constantly interrupted by applause, which gave welcome to 
the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and paid a ringing 
tribute to the work and the good cause for which it had 
been written. 

Professor Stowe replied, making brief mention of the 
connection of his English ancestors with the Congrega- 
tional churches of London, and amid great cheering, stated 
his belief that as a body the Congregationalists of the 
United States were free from the sin of slavery, that he did 
not think there was a Congregational church in the United 
States in which a member could hold slaves without subject- 
ing himself to discipline. This remark, which the Professor 
afterward modified, was received with vociferous acclama- 
tion, and his whole address, which gave a resume of the 
religious and political situation in America, was heard with 
intense interest. 

At Stoke-Newington was the grave of Dr. Watts, which 
was visited, and the place held further interest as the home 
of Daniel Defoe, whom, with Shakespeare, and Bunyan, 
Mrs. Stowe considered a model in the English language. 
That evening, Mrs. Stowe overpowered by fatigue, was 
obliged to forego a dinner at the Highland School, and one 
at Charles Dickens'. 

On the evening of the sixteenth of May was the great 
Anti-Slavery meeting at Exeter Hall. The event was ac- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 19 g 



cepted at that time as a public representation of the strong 
democratic, religious element of England. Lord Shaftesbury 
was in the chair, the Duchess of Sutherland was cheered as 
she came in and took a seat in the gallery, and when Mrs. 
Stowe entered taking her place by the side of her grace, the 
excitement was so demonstrative that even after her ex- 
perience in Scotland, its vehemence and volcanic power 
made her tremble. She thought she saw plainly enough 
where Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill came from, for 
it seemed that there was enough of this element of indigna- 
tion at wrong and resistance to tyranny, to found half a 
dozen republics as strong as the United States, A woman 
fainted in a distant part of the house and a policeman at- 
tempted to force a way with her through the densely packed 
crowd. The services were stayed for a few moments, and 
the dark mass of human beings surged like a mighty sea 
sending up hoarse murmurings, showing only too plainly to 
those above what a terrible scene might ensue should any 
panic occur or sudden excitement break up the order of the 
meeting. 

The speeches, with the exception of Lord Shaftes- 
bury's, were denunciatory and painful to the national feel 
ing of the Americans. It was the swinging of the old 
Saxon battle axe, without fear or favor; but when Professor 
Stowe spoke in response, dwelling on the fact that the cot- 
ton trade of England was the principal support to slavery, 
and read extracts from Charleston papers, which boldly de- 
clared that they did not care for any amount of moral in 
dignation wasted upon them, by nations who after all must 
buy the cotton they raised and sold, the great gathering 
seemed to be agitated with a new idea of the situation. 
13 



194: THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

The meeting was a very long one, and Mrs. Stowe was 
quite worn out with excitement and fatigue when it was 
over. 

The next day the Stowes were invited to a luncheon 
party which numbered Mr. and Mrs. Binney, Eev. Mr. 
Sherman, Lady Hatherton and Lady Byron, whom Mrs. 
Stowe had not met. But she preferred a quiet day with 
her family and went to Windsor, the place which embodies 
the English idea of royalty, and which has been immortal- 
ized by Shakespeare's " Merry Wives," and had still stand- 
ing in its park the Heme Oak, where the mischievous 
fairies played their pranks upon old FalstafY. Here also 
was the fishing ground of Izaak Walton, and the gentlemen 
of the American party were very joyous and filled with an- 
ticipations. 



CHAPTER IX. 

A FAMILY PARTY AT WINDSOR. MISPLACED SENTIMENTAL- 
ISM. PORTRAIT OF MRS. STOWE BY RICHMOND. A BROWN 
SILK DRESS FOR THE AUTHOR OF UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, THE 
OCCASION OF AGITATION ALL OVER ENGLAND. MRS. STOWE 
DINING WITH THE DUKE OF ARGYLE. A SECOND MEETING 
WITH MR. GLADSTONE. MRS. STOWE'S RECOLLECTIONS OF 
HIM. A RECENT LETTER FROM HIM TESTIFYING TO THE 
FAVORABLE IMPRESSIONS OF THE AUTHOR OF UNCLE TOM'S 
CABIN RETAINED BY THE GRAND OLD MAN. BREAKFAST 
AT RICHARD COBDEN's. CONCERT AT STAFFORDHOUSE. 
THE BLACK SWAN. FIRST MEETING WITH LADY BYRON 
PRESENTATION OF A MASSIVE SILVER INKSTAND AND GOLD 
PEN TO MRS. STOWE. WITH MARIA WESTON CHAPMAN 
IN PARIS. SOME ART CRITICISMS. THROUGH SWITZER- 
LAND. MRS. STOWE ARRAIGNED FOR CRUELTY TO AN 
ANIMAL. 

It was a merry, alert and critical party which went 
through the state apartments at Windsor, and Mrs. Stowe 
and her irrepressible brother Charles, had many a disputa- 
tion on art, in which the little woman was not usually 
worsted, and the grave Professor listened with amusement 
and not a little pride at the clash of friendly arms. Mrs. 
Stowe was beginning to realize her possibilities as an art 
critic and, in her discussions and conclusions, evinced a 
penetrating appreciation of the essentials that was most 

195 



196 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

gratifying to her husband, who had been over this ground 
before and thought out many of the ideas to which she, 
with rare insight, jumped at a bound. A fragment of her 
experience gives an instance of her freedom from conven- 
tional influences, which was eminently characteristic 
and is particularly delicious in these days when common 
sense seems to have almost nothing to do with "high art." 
They had seen a certain group of statuary, nothing less than 
the monument to the Princess Charlotte in St. George's 
Chapel. They were enchanted with the pathos of it, and 
the technical working of all the effects. Furthermore, it 
made them all cry, a fact of which, Mrs. Stowe always main- 
tained, she was not ashamed. 

Next day she was expressing her admiration of it to an 
artist, one of the authorities, when he professed it a shock- 
ing thing, in bad taste, and as a final condemnation, pro- 
nounced it terribly melodramatic. Mrs. Stowe felt for an 
instant inclined to reconsider her tears, for this critic knew 
everything that should be admired, but her own sense 
came to her support, and very pithily she afterwards 
wrote : " A thing may be melodramatic or any other atic 
that .a man pleases; so that it be strongly suggestive, 
poetic, pathetic, it has its own peculiar place in the world 
of art. If artists had their way in the creation of this 
world, there would have been only two or three kinds of 
things in it; the first three or four things that God created 
would have been enacted into fixed rules for making all 
the rest. 11 This with much more, equally apart from artis- 
tic canons, and free from binding rules, was elicited by the 
word of the artist, which was intended to be final with her, 
as his verdict was known to be, with English society 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 197 

The Stowe party dined at the White Hart, that day in 
Windsor, and under the influence of the rollicking tradi- 
tions which group around the place, and the fact that hus- 
band and wife, brother, sister-in-law and nephew had not 
been for so long a time alone together, they had an over- 
flowing, merry time of it. 

They rode to Eton and saw the boys playing cricket. 
They leaned pensively upon the wall and recited Gray's 
Elegy over a churchyard, which, however, was not quite 
satisfactorily denned as the one thought of by the poet. 

After getting separated from the youngest member 
of the party, and losing an opportunity to visit Labou- 
chere Park in consequence, they returned to London 
to find that their "dispositions to melancholies" had been 
indulged over a spurious churchyard — that the one they 
looked for was at Stoke. There was nothing to console 
them except the thought that the emotion at least was ad- 
mirable, if misplaced. 

They were staying with the rector of Mary-le-Bone par- 
ish, one of the largest districts in London, who was also 
•one of the court chaplains. Professor and Mrs. Stowe 
met many eminent divines there, and with him they went 
to the studio of Eichmond, the celebrated artist, to whom 
Mrs. Stowe was to sit for a portrait, which was to be pre- 
sented to Professor Stowe by several of his friends. 

This was done in crayon, and was forwarded to the United 
States in an appropriate frame, at the foot of which 'was a 
tablet with this inscription — 



198 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

THIS PORTRAIT OF 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, 

FROM THE SAME HAND WHICH DREW TO THE LIFE 

WILBERFORCE, BUXTON AND ELIZABETH FRY, 

IS PRESENTED TO 

HER HUSBAND AND FAMILY 

BY 

SOME ENGLISH FRIENDS. 

A. D. 1853. 

It is doubtless a rather idealized likeness of Mrs. 
Stowe in the early forties, and is at present in possession 
of her youngest daughter, Georgianna, wife of the Rev. 
Chas. F. Allen, rector of the Church of the Messiah in 
Boston. The accompanying plate was engraved from a 
copy of the picture, which was courteously loaned to the 
writer by the Rev. Charles E. Stowe, of Hartford, Conn. 

Professor and Mrs. Stowe went to call upon Kossuth 
who since his liberation and return from his visit to Amer- 
ica had been living in obscure lodgings in London. The 
Revolutionist held a firm faith in the triumph of his cause, 
one which incited him a little later, upon the outbreak of 
the Italian war against Austria, to lead nearly all of the 
Hungarian refuges to Italy. 

The Stowes dined with Lord John Russell and met sev- 
eral distinguished people. They were entertained at Lam- 
beth Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and visited 
at Palyford Hall, the oldest of the fortified houses in Eng- 
land, and the only one which, according to the feudal cus- 
tom, kept water in its moat. It had been for some years 






UNCLE tom's cabin. 199 

the residence of Thomas Clark son, and was then occupied 
by his widow and family. What reminiscences of the old 
time were talked over that day! Of the by-gone age when 
good, pious people imparted' cargoes of slaves as they did 
sugar, molasses and rum. When these articles of mer- 
chandise were supposed of necessity to come together to the 
English shores. Of the experiences of the reformer, who so 
early dared to condemn the trade, and the signs of the com- 
ing crisis in American affairs. 

And what strength and hope were gathered in, consid- 
ering how the victory over wrong was won, and might be 
won again! 

About this time arose an agitation in London at which, 
seeing the insignificance of its immediate origin, one feels 
tempted to smile but realizing that its source was in the new 
unrest and change of ideas upon various questions of public 
good, it assumes an importance quite disproportionate to 
its local cause. It was nothing of more consequence 
than the making of a dress for the author of "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," which set society seething and provoked the vehem- 
ent denunciations of the great London journals, from which 
echoes were heard across the sea. 

When Mrs. Stowe was preparing to go abroad, she was 
so utterly worn out, and upon several occasions really ill, 
that her modest arrangements were somewhat delayed. 
There was a brown Chinese silk which remained to be 
fitted when Mrs. Stowe was too much exhausted to come 
under the hands of the dress-maker, and it was therefore 
folded and put into the trunk, to be made in England in 
case it was needed 

Finding that constant travel was considerably dimmingthe 
freshness of her wardrobe, Mrs. Stowe now decided to have 



200 THE LTFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the brown silk made. A kind friend volunteered to man 
age the business, and in due time a respectable person 
waited upon Mrs. Stowe, offering to make the dress for a 
specified sum. Peacefully anticipating the return of the 
completed garment, Mrs. Stowe was astounded one morn- 
ing to read in the Times a thundering leader, which stated 
the important fact that Mrs. Stowe had contracted for the 
making of a new gown,and asked if she knew in what kind of 
a place the dress was made. The editorial was accompanied 
by a letter from a dress- maker's apprentice, stating that it 
was done piecemeal, in some of the most shocking and dis- 
tressed dens in London, by poor, miserable white slaves, 
who were worse treated than the African slaves in Amer- 
ica. Immediately upon the publication of this, came let- 
ters from all parts of England, earnestly begging Mrs. 
Stowe to interfere, deprecating the possibility that she was 
patronizing the holders of the white slaves of England, and 
urging that she would employ her talents against oppres- 
sion in every form. 

Mrs. Stowe sent for the woman who took the dress, 
thereby assuming unconsciously the burden of the celebrated 
author's public patronage, who appeared in a very tragical 
state, protested her ignorance of any dens, and insisted that 
she held no slaves. The Times implied that Mrs. Stowe 
ought to take up the matter at once, array herself against 
the system presumably by refusing to accept the work 
and not profit by means of its starvation labor. The 
whimsicality of the affair did not appear to strike the 
literal British mind, and instantly the public was awake, 
even alert, with sympathy with the poor needlewomen, who 
doubtless needed it badly enough, but who it may be 
assumed were not especially ground down by the making 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 201 

of Mrs. Stowe's plain dress. As a result of the agitation, 
Lord Shaftesbury brought forward documents issued by him 
within the previous seven years, several of which were di- 
rected particularly towards the relief of overworked and 
poorly paid, milliners and dressmakers. It appeared that 
Societies had been formed some years before for the amelior- 
ation of the condition of needlewomen and had a large mem- 
bership among the great and influential ladies, not only in 
London, but in Manchester and other cities. It therefore 
was seen that this to do was but the revival of past agita- 
tions, and while doubtless of benefit in keeping alive the 
sympathy for that class of workers, in calling renewed at- 
tention to their ill-paid labor, it was a decidedly unpleasant 
episode for the American woman who, quite unaware, be- 
came a prominent object to which to fasten a manifesto. 

Professor and Mrs. Stowe dined with the Duke of Argyle 
meeting again Lord Carlisle, the Duchess of Sutherland and 
their daughter Lady Blantyre, with Lord Bl an tyre, Lady 
Caroline Campbell, the Duke's sister, the scientist, Sir David 
Brewster, Lord Mahon, the historian, and his wife, and Mr. 
Gladstone, then one of the ablest and best men in the king- 
dom. Mrs. Stowe looked at him with much interest and 
thought that for one who had already attained such celeb- 
rity both in theology, and politics, he looked remarkably 
young. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He had a 
thoughtful face and was very agreeable and easy in his 
manners. 

A letter recently received from the hand of the great 
English statesman, testifies that the favorable impression 
was mutual, for after thirty-five years he writes " the fact 
has not escaped my memory that I had the honor of meet- 
ing her (Mrs. Stowe) at dinner." 



202 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

The last week in May, when England was in the height 
of its fresh summer beauty, they went to breakfast at Eich- 
ard Cobden's. The eminent and very popular " apostle of 
Free Trade," was a slender man, rather under medium 
height with a lithe, springy body and a frank and most fas- 
cinating smile. His appearance seemed to be sufficient rea- 
son for his popularity, for his very presence seemed to bring 
with it an atmoshere of life and exhilaration. Their con- 
versation turned naturally upon politics, and the compara- 
tive condition of England and America, and the vexed 
question of the cultivation of cotton by free labor, was thor- 
oughly ventilated. 

Professor Stowe's speeches on the subject of cotton made 
no little agitation in the British mind. The London papers 
were full of them and the question, declaring for or against the 
trade with considerable earnestness. These practical Amer- 
icans had some ideas which proved strongly disturbing to 
the English heart, just then very complacent and somewhat 
superior, on account of their precedence in the abolition of 
slavery. It was disagreeable to be told in effect, that self- 
righteous congratulations over the emancipation of their 
own slaves, were hardly consistent with the support of slave 
holders in the United States, who were able, by means of 
slave labor, to furnish cotton to English markets. 

After dining at Surrey parsonage, they went the same 
evening, to a concert at Stafford House, which was of more 
than ordinary interest to them, being in the great hall before 
described, presided over by Sir George Smart, attended by 
the cream of the nobility, in handsome demi -toilets, while 
the singer was an American negress, Miss Greenfield, assisted 
by the best glee club in London. The phenomenal voice 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 203 

of the singer called "The Black Swan," Mrs.Stowe describes 
as so keen, vibrant and penetrating, that it cut its way to 
the heart like a Damascus blade. With its double timbre, 
the songstress made most startling effects, for instance sing- 
ing " Old Folks at Home," one verse in a pure tenor, and 
the next in a thrilling bird-like soprano. Two of the 
Duke's Highland pipers made their appearance after the 
concert was over, playing their bagpipes as they prome- 
naded the Halls. Their wild barbaric playing and brilliant 
costume, recalling the picturesque garb of the ideal Amer- 
ican Indians, had a peculiar effect, and proved again the 
artistic skill with which the Duchess contrived to enhance 
her famous entertainments. The Kev. E. S. Ward, a full 
blooded African, was a notable figure in the scene. 

Later in the evening, brother Charles Beecher persuaded 
Mrs. Stowe to accept with him an invitation to hear the 
oratorio of " The Creation," at Exeter Hall, as performed by 
the London Sacred Harmonic Society. There was a gallery 
reserved for them, and Mr. Surman, the founder and conduc- 
tor of the society presented Mrs. Stowe with a beautifully 
bound copy of the score. 

About this time while taking luncheon with a friend at 
Oxford Terrace, Mrs. Stowe met Lady Byron, with whom 
she had a few moments conversation. In that brief time 
the hearts of the two women met, and that friendship which 
afterwards led Harriet Beecher Stowe into a painful posi- 
tion, but which to the last had not released a tithe of its 
affectionate tenacity, was formed. Mrs. Stowe described 
Lady Byron at that period as slight, delicately formed, with 
face, form, dress and air uniting to impress one with her 
singularly dignified, pure and gentle, yet strong character. 



204: THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

A few words dropped by her upon the religious aspect of 
England — remarks of such quality as are seldom heard — 
made their way to the inner soul of the strong earnest 
American woman, and nothing ever occurred to make 
her swerve from her firm loyalty, to the much discussed and 
vilified wife of the erratic poet. Mrs. Stowe found that 
Lady Byron's course had been made beautiful by consis- 
tent, active benevolence, and her feelings went out to her 
spontaneously as the patroness of the American outcasts, 
William and Ellen Crafts, those names memorable in An- 
nals of Boston Abolitionism. She observed the frailty of 
Lady Byron's health with concern, and in subsequent inter- 
views they held those conversations, which in later years 
made the subject of one of Mrs. Stowe's most earnest and 
conscientious strokes for what she believed to be justice. 

Upon the soirees attended, the interesting and dis- 
tinguished people met, the schools examined, the tenement- 
house visitations, which were quite different in spirit and 
manner from the modern "slumming," and the model lodg- 
ing houses exhibited under the enthusiastic leading of Lord 
Shaftesbury, it is impossible to enlarge. 

It is the history of one of the most wonderfully honored 
and distinguished visits ever made by an American to the 
old country. There are chapters in every day's experience 
and thoughts sufficient to fill volumes. 

Professor Stowe, having quite used up his leave of ab- 
sence, bade good bye to his wife, and sailed for New York 
on the first of June, to resume his duties at Andover. 
Mrs. Stowe, her sister-in-law, her young nephew and 
William Buckingham crossed to the Continent, under 
convoy of Charles Beecher. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 205 

Not however, until Mrs. Stowe had been invited to 
an entertainment made in her honor at Surrey Chapel, 
where Lord Shaftesbury occupied the chair ; the Duchess 
of Argyle and Marchioness of Stafford attended ; Miss 
Greenfield sang several songs ; Eev. Mr. Binney threw 
back to the nobility through Lord Shaftesbury, the 
compliments showered by that gentleman upon the peo- 
ple. Both said obliging things about and to Mrs. 
Stowe, and the ladies ended by presenting her with a solid 
silver inkstand, and a band of children added a gold pen. 

The inkstand, which for years was a familiar object 
upon Mrs. Stowe's desk in her library at Hartford, and is 
still undimmed in its sterling lustre by the lapse of time 
and conditions of atmosphere, is eighteen inches long with 
a group of silver figures upon it, representing Keligion 
with a Bible in her hand giving Liberty to the Slave. 

The figures, particularly that of the Slave, are masterly. 
He stands with hands clasped for joy, while a white man 
knocks the fetters from his feet. It bears this inscription : 



/v We SLac/ieS o/ -esaM-ef ^fSdadef, Simc/on, 

a4 a- memeft^o of weii ed'tiina'won 

o/ <we aenwJ, feiefy a^c/ ^ea/ ma^/ed/ec/ in aei t/fat™ 

/oi' dde emawei/i<tz^zow o/ We Cy^^e^ea^t Moved. 



206 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Mrs. Stovve was much moved by the testimonial, but the 
only speech she made, was to the children, who bore the 
gold pen. She gathered them around her and talked a 
few minutes. 

On the fourth of June, the party started for Paris, hav- 
ing a smooth passage across the dreaded Channel and escap- 
ing the custom officers with little annoyance. They found 
a home with friends who were anticipating their arrival with 
enthusiasm, and soon began to enjoy Paris. Charles Beech er 
found where all the best music was to be heard, and, ac- 
companied by her friend, no less a person than Maria Wes- 
ton Chapman, the noted abolitionist, an American lady 
whom years of residence there had converted into a verita- 
ble Parisienne, Mrs. Stowe visited the shops and reveled in 
the fascinations which were dear to her woman's heart, and 
the tastes which were natural, and never to be perverted by 
any possible hardening or decolorizing influences. 

The brother and sister visited the Louvre, and took in 
their fill of art, and, much to Charles Beecher's exultation, 
his sister was obliged to recant some of what he called her 
heresies, in regard to the masters. 

Mrs. Stowe acknowledged that for the first time in her 
life she was filled, permeated, deliciously saturated and un- 
expressibly satisfied with her feast of pictures. Having 
lived for days in the enchanting atmosphere of Paris, hav- 
ing visited the boulevards, the Bois, the Luxembourg, the 
Tuileries, and Versailles, they drove some three miles out 
of town to the villa of Monsieur Belloc, the Director of the 
Imperial School of Design, whose wife it was who had 
first translated " Uncle Tom's Cabin " into French, with 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 207 

whom there had been a delightful correspondence for some 
months. 

This time in Paris was a delicious rest and refreshment 
to Mrs. Stowe, who had for years been wrestling with the 
stern necessities of life, putting forth and enforcing ideas 
and principles bearing upon the needs of the human race, 
meeting the friction of strong minds, with the firm, keen 
surface of her own intellectuality. She wrote to a friend : 
" At last I have come into dreamland; into the lotos eater's 
paradise ; into the land where it is always afternoon. I am 
released from care , I am unknown and unknowing ; I live 
in a house whose arrangements seem to be strange, old and 
dreamy. My time is all my own." 

She was free to enjoy to the full, the light airiness of 
local existence, to fill her soul with beautiful forms and 
ideas in art, to wander aimlessly in the gardens, hearing the 
bands of music, watching the children play, viewing with 
no responsibility, the gay fleck and foam of the irredescent 
life of Paris. 

All the joyousness, all the humor, all the love of the 
beautiful, which in her was a cultivated inheritance from 
her sweet mother, all the artistic feeling, which was some- 
times smothered under the cares and restrictions of New 
England life, burst forth and blossomed into exquisite flow- 
ers of fancy and graceful expression. In reading the letters 
sent from Paris to her husband and friends, one obtains a 
new comprehension of the softer, the aesthetic side, of her 
nature, which indeed appears occasionally in her writings, 
but was known only in its fullest beauty to the intimate 
friends, who saw it called forth day by day by a flower, a 
fine painting, a view of a lovely landscape, a handsome build- 



208 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ing, a pretty child, a picturesque person, a patient animal, 
or a dainty bird. 

She was peculiarly susceptible to the simplicity of nature, 
and equally responsive to the niceties of art and civilized 
existence. Her great, broad nature enjoyed as well, the 
npthrusting of a blade of grass, or the formulation of a 
grand idea for the benefit of the whole human race. When 
in one personality is so combined strength, morality, re- 
ligious feeling, taste, humor and kindness, there is seen a 
notable character. This one has left its impress upon the 
universal mind and serves as an adored example of human 
possibility to every one who was fortunate enough to have 
known her. 

The naturalness and unsullied truth of her art criticisms, 
are a marvel to those who have to learn how to feel, about 
pictures and statuary. She carried into the galleries the 
balance with which she examined everything in life, and 
her opinions were strangely true to art in its best sense. 
Pages of pertinent paragraphs could be quoted for the bene- 
fit of those who may sometime see the pictures, without 
the discriminating taste which was her own, but only one 
or two can be given. 

" There were Raphaels there, which still disappointed me, 
because from Raphael I asked and expected more. I wished 
to feel his hand on my soul with firmer grasp ; these were too 
passionless in their serenity and almost effeminate in their 
tenderness." 

" But Rubens, the great joyous, full-souled, all-powerful 
Rubens! — there he was, full as ever of triumphant 
abounding life ; disgusting and pleasing ; making me laugh 
and making me angry; defying me to like him; dragging 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 209 

me at his chariot wheels ; in despite of my protest, forcing 
me to confess that there was no other but he." 

Remember, reader, that this was written thirty-five years 
ago, before Europe, art, and the old masters, had been dis- 
cussed by every one, fit and unfit. If you fail to see origin- 
ality in these criticisms remember that many a flowery 
critique may have been founded upon them. If you do 
not perceive their truth, realize that perhaps convention- 
alties have deprived us of the freshness and penetrating 
appreciation which were hers, inherent and so thoroughly 
characteristic that nothing served to dim the clearness of 
her vision, which always looked straight through the film 
of various and accruing thought, to the essentials in what- 
ever she regarded. 

"One of my favorites was Kembrandt. I always did 
admire the gorgeous and solemn mysteries of his coloring. 
Eembrandt is like Hawthorne. He chooses simple and 
every day objects and so arranges his light and shadow as 
to give them a sombre richness and a mysterious gloom. 
The House of Seven Gables is a succession of Eembrandt 
pictures done in words instead of oils." 

Mrs. Stowe did not forget, as many picture lovers do, 
that art is not confined to brush and pigments. 

She was one of the first to express, what we all may 
have felt, of the relation of all branches of art to 
each other. She compared Milton to grand organ tones 
in music; she saw the Shakespearean flavor in the 
variety and vital force of Rubens' artistic power. Paul 
de la Roche suggested the picturesqueness of Walter Scott. 
She saw in the French galleries a dramatic effect which 
was unworthy as it must weary upon close acquaintance. 
14 



210 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

* 

She felt the poetry in the architecture of one cathedral, and 
heard an anthem in the solemn harmony of another grand 
composition of stone. In French painting she perceived 
the minor artistics, the exquisite trivialities which pertain 
to and characterize French life. She said she would as 
soon trust Tom Moore to write her a prayer book, as Cor- 
regio to paint religious ideas. 

While in Paris Mrs. Stowe made the acquaintance of 
Ary Schoeffer and his pretty English wife. She saw his 
celebrated picture of Francisca de Eimini and was much 
affected, feeling its agony of love and despair as a libel 
upon her Father in Heaven. She exclaimed " No, it is not 
God, who eternally pursues undying, patient love, with 
storms of vindictive wrath." 

In writing of Schoeffer and his works, which so pleased 
and wrought upon her best feelings, Mrs. Stowe said, — 
"The knowing ones are much divided about Schoeffer. 
Some say he is no painter. Nothing seems to me so utterly 
without rule or compass as this world of art. Divided into 
little cliques, each with his shibboleth, artists excommuni- 
cate each other as heartily as theologians, and a neophyte 
who should attempt to make up a judgment by their help 
would be obliged to shift opinions with every circle." 

Mrs. Stowe predicted a success for Ary Schoeffer and 
said, with her uniform faith in the judgment of unconven- 
tional taste, " His best reward is in the judgments of the 
unsophisticated heart. A painter who does not burn in- 
cense to his palette and worship his brushes, who rever- 
ences ideas above mechanism, will have all manner of evil 
spoken against him by artists, but the human heart will 
always accept him." This axiom can doubtless be applied 



uncle tom's cabin-. 211 

to all kinds of art and fits none more perfectly than liter- 
ary presentations. 

Charles Beecher tells in his diary, of how they attended 
a musicale with the Princess Czartoryski at the piano, and 
Frankomm of the Conservatoire to play his Stradivarins 
of great age and fabulous price ; when he acted as inter- 
preter between the violinist and his sister, who talked 
much with the virtuoso about music, and found quite unex- 
expectedly that he had read "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and 
that he protested when he read it, " This is genuine Chris- 
tianity." Charles Beecher speaks in the same place with 
pride, of the easy and dignified demeanor of his beloved 
and distinguished sister, and tells of the consideration every- 
where accorded her. 

At a dinner party they met La Eochejacquelin and Peter 
Parley, at one time consul to Pans. While the others 
were chatting, Weston Chapman and Charles Beecher 
slipped out and went to the Jardin Mabille, of which he 
gave his sister, next morning, a very ingenuous and vastly 
entertaining description. 

On the 22nd of June the party left Paris for Chal- 
ons, thence by steamer, (in a boat so diminutive that Charles 
Beecher said he thought Tchabod Crane might have sat 
astride of it and dipped his feet in the water,) down the 
Saone to the Rhone and Lyons. 

From Lyons to Geneva by diligence, and they had their 
first view of Mount Blanc. At the Swiss towns, people 
began to discover by some method of thought transference 
never to be understood, who the little lady with the bright 
gray eyes and the brown curls was, and as Charles Beecher 
said it was "Scotland all over again." Everybody had 



212 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

read "Uncle Tom," and the honest, secluded mountaineers, 
pressed about her, more than one urging her to write 
another book for they said, " Kemember, our winter nights 
here are very long." 

One polished gentleman came to her and said with emo- 
tion that he "had lost an Eva" and thanked her with 
tears,* for her beautiful picture of that sweet young life. 
At Chamouni they made another halt. It is quite charac- 
teristic of Mrs. Stowe that she said in speaking of the 
mountains — " I rejoiced every hour while among those 
scenes, in my familiarity with the language of the Bible. 
In it alone, could I find vocabulary and images to express 

my feelings of wonder and awe. 1 ' 

The party [Mrs. Stowe, Mrs. Beecher, young George, 

William Buckingham and Charles Beecher,] took mules and 
ascended the mountains, to La Flegere from which was then 
to be had the best view of the whole range to the Mer de 
Glace, and points of interest in- all directions. Charles 
Beecher let out the exuberance of spirits which was natural to 
all the big boys of that illustrious family, and rolled rocks 
down the precipices, threw poles down the ice gorges into 
the clear pools below, and played with his nephew in the 
most rollicking and undignified fashion. From Chamouni 
they went to Martigny, and in the villages perched upon the 
precipices, there came to Mrs. Stowe the question which she 
asked of her guide, why all the little children did not fall 
over the cliffs and get killed. One has had the same idea 
about Venice, and the lagoons which lay under each win- 
dow, waiting to drown luckless babes. 

From Martigny they ascended the St. Bernard pass and 
found a hundred people at the hospice. 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 218 

Back to the Martignj, and the next day by carriage to 
Lake Leman, where at Hotel Byron they found themselves 
overlooking the Lake, with Castle Chillon mirrored in the 
still waters. They drove to Thun to Inerlachen and Lau- 
terbrunnen. Pursuing their journey they crossed the Wen- 
gern Alps and rested at Grindelwald. From Grindelwald 
they went to Meyringen and to the Eigi Kulm. 

People in general seemed to accept Mrs. Stowe as a 
champion of the rights of all creatures, human or brute. 
An incident which furnishes an amusing instance of this 
feeling, occurred at Chamouni. The party had taken don- 
keys and under the convoy of guides had ascended various 
mountain paths, spending several days in these to them, 
novel and most delightful, excursions. After their return,' 
while resting one evening in the parlor of the hotel, Mrs! 
Stowe was accosted by a stern female, whose righteousness 
was visibly tinged with the verjuice of envy and ready 
fault finding. Asking if it were Mrs. Stowe and being po- 
litely answered, she said that she felt it her duty to remon- 
strate against the cruelty of which she heard she had been 
guilty that day, and to ask her, if she considered beating 
an inoffensive animal, consistent with her influence as a 
woman who professed to feel for the helpless! 

Mrs. Stowe was considerably astonished, and replied that 
she professed nothing which she could not carry out, in at 
least her private actions, and asked for an explanation. " I 
refer," said the stern female, " to the abuse of your donkey 
to-day, upon Montanvert. I am told you whipped the 
poor animal unmercifully. I am surprised at your glaring 
inconsistency, Mrs. Stowe." 

She looked as if she were rather glad of it. Mrs. Stowe 



21-i THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

dismissed her with a few words. Charles Beecher declared 
his sister should have told the impertinent female, that 
they might have been more careful of the donkey's feelings 
had they expected to thus encounter another member of the 
family! 

The truth of the matter was, that Charles Beecher found 
himself astride of a particularly obstinate animal, who inge- 
niously selected the most precarious places in which to 
balk and kick, much to the annoyance and danger of his 
rider. Mr. Beecher was provided only with a stick, which 
he had cut from a bush by the way, and although he soon 
broke it over the animal's shaggy head, it was evident 
that the donkey was scarcely aware that his rider objected 
to his performances, for it was only when the guides took 
hold of the bit and belabored him from behind, that he con- 
sented to break the several blockades which he caused the 
train. 

Leaving Heidelberg with regret about the first of August, 
the party went to Frankfort, putting up at the Hotel Eus- 
sie. Among the attractions of the place they saw of course 
Dannecker's Ariadne, the beautiful female riding upon a 
panther, which is in a pavilion in a garden. It is interest- 
ing to note that Mrs. Stowe perceived in this work a lack 
of religious feeling, which left it "cold as Greek mythology." 

The house where Goethe was born, and the library where 
they looked for Luther's Bible and saw instead, only his 
shoes, and the picture gallery, were objective points and 
thoroughly enjoyed. 

His sister humorously wrote that Charles had espoused 
himself to an "Amati " at Geneva and like most young bride- 
grooms was oblivious to all else. So absorbed was he 



UNCLE TOMS CABIN. 215 

drawing from it sweet melodies of Mozart, and Beethoven 
adagios, that when they found the picture gallery closed he 
exclaimed, " What a mercy ! " Down the Rhine to Cologne 
they went with the expected sensations at Bingen, Coblentz, 
Ebrenbreitstein, Bonn, Drachenfels and all the rest, reading 
Childe Harold by the way. 

At Cologne, after feasting in the sublimities of the cathe- 
dral, they went to St. Ursula's church, where the various 
ghastly relics, of very doubtful nature, were shown them by 
the priest. In Mrs. Stowe's description of this scene, the re- 
markable statements of the exhibitor, the solemn chaffing of 
Charles Beecher, the shocked indignation of sister-in-law 
Sarah, and the irrepressible laughter of herself, one sees a 
farce very similar and quite as amusing and irresistably pro- 
vocative of sympathetic smiles, as the well known skit of 
Mark Twain in " Innocents Abroad." ending with, " Is he 
dead ? " written twenty-five years or so, later. 

They went from Cologne to Dusseldorf and Leipsic, where 
they were entertained by Tauchnitz, the celebrated pub- 
lisher, who had an interest in the German editions 
of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." At Dresden, Mrs. Stowe 
sent her card to Jennie Lind Goldschmidt, but that 
lady, having a young babe, was unable to see her whom 
she admired and loved so sincerely. They went to Ber- 
lin, to Wittenburg; saw the house and burial place of 
Luther and the monument in the public square to him, and 
then on to Erfurt and Eisenach. Mrs. Stowe's art criticisms 
upon the Dresden galleries as reproduced in "Sunny Memor- 
ies of Foreign Lands " are so instrinsically valuable, just and 
correct that they should be considered by every person of 
taste. In speaking of the culinary paintings in which 



216 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

cabbages, brass kettles, onions and potatoes are reproduced 
with remarkable industry and painstaking, she gives ex- 
pression to an idea that might well engage the attention of 
certain of the modern school of novelists. She felt 
that the thing so carefully painted was not in itself 
worthy of so much modish art. She says, " For my part 
I have but little more pleasure in a turnip, onion or potato 
in a picture than out, and always wish that the industry 
and richness of color had been bestowed upon things, in 
themselves, beautiful." 



CHAPTER X. 

RETURN TO PARIS. ENTERTAINED BY MONSIEUR AND MAD- 
AME DE BELLOO. INTERVIEW WITH BERANGER. MRS. 
STOWE'S ESTIMATE OF THE FRENCH CHARACTER. VISIT TO 
LADY CARLISLE AT YORK. THE " LEEDS OFFERING." A 
DEPUTATION FROM IRELAND PRESENT THE AUTHOR OF 
" UNCLE TOM'S CABIN " WITH A BEAUTIFUL CASKET OF BOG 
OAK FILLED WITH SOVEREIGNS. RETURN HOME. MRS. 
STOWE'S LETTERS COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED IN " SUNNY 
MEMORIES OF FOREIGN LANDS." "A PEEP INTO UNCLE 
TOM'S CABIN." A DRAMATIZATION OF "UNCLE TOM'S 
€ABIN " CALLED "THE CHRISTIAN SLAVE." REPUBLICA- 
TION OF " THE MAY FLOWER." ANOTHER ANTI-SLAVERY 
STORY. " DRED," NOT A SEQUEL, BUT A SUPPLEMENT TO 
" UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." ITS AIM TO SHOW THE EFFECTS OF 
THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY UPON THE WHITE PEOPLE 
OF THE SOUTH. ITS SALE ONLY SECOND TO THAT OF HER 
GREATEST WORK. 

By August 20th the Stowe party were back to Paris, 
having made a brief visit in Antwerp, with its various 
quaint and charming effects, its beautiful bells, and churches, 
and galleries, where Rubens was the saint to which the 
city erected its shrine. 

Again at the hospitable home of Monsieur and Madame de 
Bellock, with more art, and more sight seeing, a little final 
shopping, and thoughts now turning eagerly to home and 

217 



218 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

native land across the sea. Mrs. Stowe met Beranger the 
poet, then an old man, a very charming person full of be- 
nevolent kindness and universally popular with the respon- 
sive common people. Mrs. Stowe's representation of the 
virtues, and admirable qualities of the French people is 
very pleasant to .contemplate, leaving the heart warm and 
sympathetic with the kindly conventionalism which per- 
vades their social customs and governs their manners. 

Mrs. Stowe was superior to the mistrust which Anglo-Sax- 
ons generally evince for the sincerity of a nation which 
habitually deals in conversational elegancies and compli- 
ments. Every French heart should love Mrs. Stowe for the 
appreciative things she has said about them, and said with 
the perfect sincerity which is inseparable from her character. 
One wishes for the sake of the French people known and 
loved, to make selections from her estimate of their life, char- 
acter and qualities. It may be found among the last letters 
published in the volume before referred to, and should be read 
by those who have no opportunity to make personal obser- 
vations upon the peculiarities -and attributes, of the several 
nations which Mrs. Stowe had studied. 

There is, in her discussion of these matters, of men and 
things, of persons and political history, to be seen, one of 
the best bits of writing emanating from her powerful pen. 
Her grasp of situations, and insight into causation there 
appears, not dependent upon local experience or intuitive 
overwrought feeling, but as the abstract intellectual force 
and judgement, the mental power, the perfectly disciplined 
intelligence, which is capable of taking a correct view of 
any problem, or situation which is presented to it. 

When Mrs. Stowe was in Paris she was repeatedly vis- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 219 

ited by an aged French gentleman, a Count, who in youth 
had spent some years as a student at the Law School in 
Litchfield when she was a child, and declared the society 
of the place was at that time " the most charming in the 
world." 

During her sojourn in Paris Mrs. Stowe received many 
visits from the members of the Old French Abolition So- 
ciety which existed there for many years. A Catholic 
lady wrote to ask her why she had not included in her 
"Key" as among the friends of emancipation, the Eomish 
clergy of the United States, as it had been the boast of 
their church in France. Mrs. Stowe was forced to reply 
that the Eoman Catholic clergy had not identified them- 
selves with the anti-slavery cause, but allowed their in- 
fluence to go with the multitude. 

A gentleman, who was among the guests of one evening 
earnestly discussing the powers and capabilities of the Afri- 
can race and referring to their taste for music and the fine 
arts, asked why, with cultivation, they might not be trained to 
exhibit characteristic pantomimes and dances. Whereupon 
Mrs. Chapman, whose experiences in Boston had sharpened 
into keen dislike of American inconsistency, spoke up 
quickly to the mingled amusement and chagrin of Mrs. 
Stowe quoting to him the action of one of the Old 
School Presbyterian churches in America, which was 
agitated to its very foundations by the question as to 
whether a man might legally marry his deceased wife's 
sister, yet in the same meeting declined to condemn slavery, 
which denied legal marriage to all slaves, and denounced 
dancing, with a vehemence commensurate to its place as one 
of the atrocities of a world lying in wickedness. The poor 



220 THE LIFE WOEK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

man was lost in amazement, and probably never was able 
to realize how principles were valued in this country. 

The party now homeward bound, crossed from Boulogne 
to Folkstone and thence to York and Leeds, having been 
intercepted by Lady Carlisle and taken home with her at 
York. At Leeds they were received into the home of 
Mr. Baines, whose father was an earnest and progressive 
parliamentarian. The next day the house was filled with 
company and the "Leeds Offering" was made by a deputa- 
tion of citizens. It was a massive and very elegant silver 
basket, piled high with gold pieces and bore this inscrip- 
tion: — 

csSS 2,c4c/ alow/ //em accoic/tna & ■mwk ewm aea4>/ 
awe/ /ttiffi/ ad> ffijs cewtd-e. 



%e /tienc/ &/ /tie Move. 
"Pro Rege et Lege" 

A telegram was received from the Mayor of Liverpool 
asking them to stop at that city, but Mrs. Stowe, on ac- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 221 

count of fatigue was obliged to decline. Before starting 
for home they made another brief visit to their friends, the 
Croppers at the Dingle, their first and last resting place on 
British soil. Here there were letters from home, some sad 
ones, telling of the death of friends. 

A deputation from Ireland called upon the author of 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" there, with an address, and a present 
of a beautiful Bog Oak Casket lined with gold and carved 
with shamrock leaves and the national emblems, the harp, 
and a hound attached to it by a tiny gold collar and chain. 
This was filled with sovereigns and upon the inside of the 
gold lined cover was the inscription, 



wt&e 







tz-ztJe v- 





4Wi 



6e ct/^&wz d ^^z^^^O 



The mayor of Liverpool and the Rev. Dr. Raffles break- 
fasted with the party on the morning of their departure 
from British soil, and after the latter had made an earnest 
prayer to God for their safe voyage home, attended them 



222 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

to the wharf, where a large party were waiting to bid them 
good-bye. "And thus almost sadly as a child might leave 
its home," says Mrs. Stowe, "I left the shores of kind old 
England — the mother of us all." 

When Mrs. Stowe parted from her friends, with whom 
for some months she had sojourned so pleasantly upon foreign 
shores, and returned to her home at Andover, to be wel- 
comed by her husband and children and take up again the 
threads of domestic life and work, her thoughts very nat- 
urally reverted to the remarkable tour, and in looking 
over the letters sent home from many places, filling in the 
interims with facts brought to recollection by notes in her 
own, and her brother's diaries, the journey was enjoyed in re- 
trospect, as it often is more vividly realized, when the mind 
travels over the scenes, unincumbered by the infirmities 
which pertain to the body. 

The family friends wanted the story of the journey put 
into permanent form; and, moreover, as the political situa- 
tion grew more violent, and the tide of hostile feeling ran 
high against all who had dared to lift a voice against the 
" institution " of slavery, there were desperate misrepresen- 
tations, malicious falsehoods, told in the newspapers and 
among people, concerning the facts of Mrs. Stowe's recep- 
tion abroad; against the distinguished and godly people 
who welcomed her ; and in denunciation of the speeches 
ringing with no uncertain sound, which were made by 
Professor Stowe on various occasions. It was therefore 
decided to publish these facts and impressions of the trip. 

"Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands" was prefaced 
by an introduction by Professor Stowe. He copied the 
press accounts of the public meetings held in honor of the 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 223 

author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin" in many cities and towns, 
and threw a parting hot shot at "the reckless faithlessness and 
impudent falsehood of our national pro-slavery legislation" 
which, goaded to madness by the rising indignation of the 
best thought of the age, was then becoming boldly aggres- 
sive, thus surely preparing the way to its own down- 
fall. 

The book was issued from the press of Phillips, Samp- 
son and Co., of Boston, and appeared simultaneously in 
England, under the sanction of the author, from the house 
of Sampson and Low. Mrs. Stowe took this occasion to 
thank publicly, those publishers in England, France and 
Germany, who had shown a liberalit}^ beyond the require- 
ments of obligation. The royalties which they voluntarily 
rendered to the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and the 
"Key," which was also in great demand, were debts of 
honor, and received by her with appreciation. If there 
had been an international copyright law, or all publishers 
as honorable as these, Harriet Beech er Stowe would have 
speedily become the wealthiest author living. 

" Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands " was published in 
the spring of 1854 and had a large sale. On account 
of some technicality as to the copyright, it has been 
for some years out of print in the United States. It is, 
however, one of the best guide books which is extant, to 
the salient thought points, and the intellectual scenery of 
the journey through the British Islands and the Continen- 
tal tour described, and will doubtless be re- issued. Messrs. 
Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivirigton, the London 
publishers, have sold up to the present time, nearly forty 
thousand copies. 



224 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Shortly after her return, in answer to an urgent demand, 
Mrs. Stowe published a small book for children, entitled, 
" A Peep into Uncle Tom's Cabin." It was a simple out- 
line of the story, and sold freely. 

In 1855 Mrs. Stowe prepared a dramatization of " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," which was called "The Christian Slave." 
About this time Phillips, Sampson and Co., of Boston, 
published a new and enlarged edition of " The Mayflower." 
The copy in the possession of the present writer is from the 
twenty -fourth edition — proof that it was eagerly welcomed 
by a public who were ignorant of its earlier appearance. 

Upon the fly-leaf of this volume, which is so precious a 
testimonial of the genius of young Harriet Beecher, is 
inscribed in the infirm hand of the aged woman who had 
become so venerated and loved as to incite this work of 
affection now in hand, — "Accept this memorial of your 
friend, H. B. Stowe, Oct. 29, 1887." 

Once more free to devote herself to the education of her 
children, Mrs. Stowe led them through studies and reading, 
and in leisure hours busied herself in preparing a " Geogra- 
phy for My Children," which was published and proved 
very useful to other mothers in their loving labors with 
their little ones. Master Charles now no longer a baby, 
and Georgiana, his sister, but little older, were out of arms, 
and though home cares were pressing and might have 
crushed a less vigorous spirit, Mrs. Stowe began the writ- 
ing of another anti-slavery book. It embodied some of 
her experience and ideas, which could not be promulgated 
in "Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

It was called "Dred, or Nina Gordon." Held in compari- 




0**-ol. 





UNCLE tom's cabin. 225 

son with her first great book, aflame as that was with indig- 
nation and deep feeling, "Dred" has been justly criticized 
as lacking in the strength and literary power which so won- 
derfully distinguish ""Uncle Tom's Cabin." " Dred " is less 
a novel and more an argument. It is less artistic and more 
historical. It often turns aside from the story into moraliz- 
ing^, and the disenchantments of explanation and vindica- 
tion of the grounds taken. That she put her first accumu- 
lated force and best thoughts into "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 
there is no doubt, but none the less is "Dred" worth reading 
and thinking over. It is a strong supplement to the first 
book, and fills in and rounds out, the reader's idea of so- 
ciety, languishing and diseased under the weight of slavery. 

It effectually shows that the author saw no reason to 
retract or modify her views as previously expressed. Any 
sequel seems an anti-climax, from not only being considered 
in comparison with the first effort, but because of a waning 
enthusiasm, and a sort of knowing superiority in the reader 
which is superinduced by the possession of foregoing facts 
and causes. So "Dred" will be viewed, but one may 
base upon the fact of its undeniable superiority to the ma- 
jority of American novels, an idea of the greatness of the 
work which dwarfs and throws it into a pale light, as a 
lesser luminary before the sun. 

Possibly had Mrs. Stowe anticipated the retrospective 
verdict of the literary art critics, she might not have affixed 
this after thought to " Uncle Tom's Cabin," but having in 
mind only a noble purpose and the pressing home to the 
American people the question of their moral responsibility 
on the subject of slavery, she wrote "Dred." Who shall 
say that it was an ethical mistake even though it lacked 



226 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the grand unity and movement of the first, and was inter- 
rupted in its artistic progression by sundry droppings into 
argument and an array of proofs, which it was evident the 
author had not considered called for, in her first book. 

The issues between Liberty and Slavery had every year 
grown more important, and the most momentous crisis of 
our national career was imminent. 

The United States stood forth upon a conspicuous stage, 
to decide before the nations of the earth, whether political 
precedent and commercial expediency should obtain against 
right, and justice to a race of down trodden people 

The American people were about to answer the question 
whether slavery should be extended into free soil and 
across lines which had hitherto held it in check. 

It is safe to say that Mrs Stowe recked not of the 
literary value of a work which followed l ' Uncle Tom's 
Cabin, 1 ' upon the same theme. She wrote " Dred" as she 
has always written and spoken, because she had something 
to say. It was a true heart, speaking to fellow beings upon a 
subject that thoroughly absorbed and possessed it. This 
was the secret of Mrs. Stowe's great success. From this 
motive emanated " Pilgrims Progress," and all the great 
books, ancient and modern, which hold a vital tenacity upon 
the human mind, which quite baffles the critics, but clearly 
demonstrates one of Mrs. Stowe's own utterances when she 
said, "People always like simplicity and truth, better than 
finish." 

The strength of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " had been devoted 
to a vivid description of the pitiable condition of the bond- 
men under existing institutions. Little more could be 
said to strengthen that impression. But there was another 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 227 

side to the question winch had been but faintly touched 
upon. In " Dred" Mrs. Stowe showed the reflex effects of 
the system, upon the aristocratic owners. She did what 
John C. Calhoun declared in Congress, that the Abolition- 
ists were doing everywhere. Kidiculing the notion that 
they proposed to' liberate the slaves by force of arms, he 
said, " The war which they wage against us is of a very 
different character, and far more effective, — it is waged not 
against our lives, but against our characters." 

Mrs. Stowe demonstrated that a man cannot hold an- 
other in slavery, without being in some sense, himself en- 
slaved. 

In the pictures of spoiled little Nina Gordon, her de- 
bauched brother Tom and her selfish Aunt Nesbit, we see 
the direct results of the pernicious system, upon the class 
counted the favored one. In the knotty questions, and un- 
pleasant dilemmas which confronted the polished and cul- 
tured Judge Clayton and his noble daughter, and in the crush- 
ing weight of comprehended responsibility which sobered 
the life of Edward Clayton, there is cleverly portrayed the 
seamy side of the upper social fabric, so often thrown into 
high lights and artificial colorings by zealous defenders of 
the " institution." 

Again, where could be found a more pathetic presentation 
than that of the mental and physical condition of the Cripps 
family, whose father was one of the worthless individuals 
so graphically termed by the colored men, "poor white 
trash " ? This was a type of a class which could only exist 
under the cloud of ignorance and moral degradation, made 
possible by a system which neglected public schools, and all 
provision for the good of the commonwealth. This cloud 



228 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ne^ro slavery entailed no less upon the so-called free men of 
all grades, than upon the African chattels. 

Upon the part of the brave woman who had set the fires of 
liberty burning upon every hill-top of the North, this was 
a new warfare. And, though one, which we gladly believe 
failed to touch the universal heart, like a call for sympathy 
with the oppressed, it may be supposed to have appealed 
quite as forcibly to the selfish feelings of those, who, inured 
to the system, were not susceptible to the pathos of " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," The aristocratic uature of society at the 
South so completely segregated people of certain position 
from any knowledge of what was going on in the human life 
below them, that facts pertaining only to the sufferings of the 
negroes, had no appeal to them, being unnoticed or ignored 
with as much ease as the people of wealth and culture of 
our great cities, dismiss all concern with the squalid wretch- 
edness in their slums. Their own disadvantages made, 
therefore, the only vulnerable point of attack upon the 
aristocracy who held in a free country, the anomalous po- 
sition of feudal lords. This Mrs. Stowe perceived, and 
promptly acted upon. 

Opening the book with the impression of the strength 
and depth of Harriet Beecher Stowe's first great book upon 
one's mind, the description of the frivolous mistress of 
Canema is almost a shock. If, however, one has seen, 
through her bright and sparkling mental experiences in 
"Sunny Memories" the new lightness and relief from the 
earnest, even stern trend of her New England manner of 
thought, one can better understand this strain, which is 
new and almost foreign to Mrs. Stowe. 

The story opens, with Nina Gordon just returning from 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 229 

boarding school, engaged to marry three men. She is de- 
clared by the author— and one of her lovers, Edward Clay- 
ton-to be pretty, bewitching, full of native shrewdness and 
vitality, with an instinctive preference for kindness and 
justice, which it must be confessed, is not yet quite apparent 
to the reader. She is engaged in overhauling her trunks, 
abstracting therefrom various articles of millinery and 
ornament, which quite fill her mind, and she exhibits per- 
fect indifference to the consequences of her triple be- 
trothment, and the fact that her financial affairs are un- 
pleasantly involved. The business manager and guardian, 
who tries in vain to impress the last fact upon her mind, is 
Harry, the quadroon son of her father, Colonel Gordon; 
her unknown half-brother, whose tinge of dark blood', 
hardly to be seen in his countenance, holds him in bondage! 
The trust of the property, Harry holds by will of the late 
Colonel Gordon, for his sister and mistress, Nina, to the 
partial exclusion from his natural rights, of Tom Gordon, a 
white son, who had become so wild and degraded before 
his father's death, that he saw the necessity of protecting 
Nina, and his slave family, from the violence and cruelties 
of the expectant heir. 

• The state of feeling which possessed Tom Gordon re- 
garding his sister, and the man Harry, is effectively dis- 
played and the melancholy virtue and acrid religious prin- 
ciple of Aunt Nesbit, Nina's female relative and would-be 
guide, show how utterly hard and unlovely, a woman who 
yet supposed herself a Christian, could be. In the charac- 
ter of Tomtit we have a masculine Topsy, with new oddi- 
ties and a course of exasperatingly comical conduct, which 
would prove irresistible were we not in a position to say, 



230 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

" Oh, yes, we have seen this character before and it hardly 
compares with the other," without realizing that familiarity 
has dulled the keen edge of our first enjoyment of the 
small deviltries of Topsy. The picture of the home life of 
Harry and Lizette, his pretty French quadroon wife, another 
humming-bird, another gay, unthinking vain creature, who 
may have conduced to Harry's ennui and mental dyspepsia 
— for bon-bons are not good as a steady diet — is an ideal- 
ized view of a theatrical character, and though very pretty 
reading, does not sweep the chords which thrilled so deeply to 
the more earnest and sober existence of George and Eliza. 
A sense of their misfortunes, even as threatened in the lust 
of Tom Gordon for Harry's dainty, sprightly wife, does not 
reach us, because it lacks the reality which we have felt in 
other cases. 

Must we allow that this story seems forced, that it lacks 
the spontaneity and intensity of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," and 
that our feeling of loss is not 'wholly to be accounted for 
by the fact of some acquaintance with the phase of life 
here shown ? Were it not so, it might well cause a blush 
that our sensibilities were so soon blunted. The conclusion 
is again that this book was written, more as any other 
author might have written, and that it is somewhat dis- 
appointing, after the story which would not be repressed, 
which told itself, with all the forceful feeling accumulated 
in years. 

The character of Old Hundred, the deliberate mass of 
obstinacy and good nature who stood for the Gordon's 
coachman, and his calm tyranny over his young mistress, 
a salient point in the subjugation of the slave owners, 
is very amusingly depicted. Neither does the situation 



UNCLE TO.MS CABIN. 231 

lack for entertaining developments when the several 
affianced lovers of Nina Gordon appear at the same time, 
to make a visit upon their volatile little betrothed. Edward 
Clayton, the favored one among the three young men to 
whom Miss Gordon was contemporaneously enga 
appears an earnest, cultured person, weighed down with the 
responsibilities and burdens, which the pernicious system 
of slavery imposed upon all masters, while few were, like 
him, conscious of it. In the author's analysis of this char- 
acter, we feel more of the power of Mrs. Stowe, and we 
like to believe that families, like the one which consisted 
of the refined and cultivated Judge, Edward Clayton and 
his noble sister, were not rare in the South under the 
old regime, or not rarer than they are elsewhere upon the 
earth. 

The Cripps family, living in squalor and poverty, which 
is" only relieved by the faithful ministrations of their sole 
retainer, old Tiff, have little to do with the story, except 
to call forth the latent kindness and sweet benevolence of 
Nina Gordon. But this group, in this gathering of literary 
fragments, serves to bring forth one of the best characters 
ever depicted by the author. There is a pathetic de- 
votion, a hound-like fidelity and untiring effort in old 
Tiff, a despairing persistence on his part to keep up 
the respectability of the family for the sake of what 
they were on their mother's side, and a patient determi- 
nation to see the best of all situations, which makes him 
an African Mark Tapley and notable among the wonderful 
character portraits drawn by Mrs. Stowe. During the 
period following the death of the mother of this family, 
Nina Gordon begins to get experience in the sadder tilings 



232 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

of life and under the influence of Edward Clayton, who 
accompanies her upon her errands of mercy and respect to 
the neglected dead, she finds her love for him, which is to 
be her life's best influence. 

As has been said, the key-note to the second story written 
by Harriet Beecher Stowe, on the subject of slavery, is the 
effect of the system upon the mental and moral characters 
of the aristocracy, and beyond what might be casually con- 
sidered the direct reflex influence, and inevitable effect 
of this foul evil upon the sensibilities of the privileged 
class. When the hero of the story appears, there is shown 
another of the most paralyzing effects of the institution. 
It was the abject fear among the slave owners, of an insur- 
rection, always present to the mind, always menacing them 
with the horrors once experienced in the uprising of the 
blacks at Southampton, when Nat Turner, with six men 
ran amuck, going from plantation to plantation in Louisi- 
ana, killing more than fifty persons, men, women and chil- 
dren, in less than forty-eight hours. 

The terrible deeds, the hunting down of the offenders, and 
the execution and punishment of nearly sixty of the fanati- 
cal blacks, who believed themselves avengers, were familiar 
to every planter's family, to every scion of the class which 
lived upon the labor of the negro. While the law makers 
soon resumed their old lines of thought, quickly recover- 
ing from the alarm which this and several threatened in- 
surrections had occasioned, the people were haunted with this 
fear. This was an undercurrent of dread, but nevertheless 
an ever-present possibility, and Mrs. Stowe made it a strong 
weapon. The character of " Dred " (note the ominous sound 
of the name) was founded upon that of the renegade Turner, 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 233 

ana she, in representing his view of the situation, and giving 
an intelligent negro's idea of the system which bore so 
heavily upon his race, threw out a warning which she 
knew would be but too startling to the people who had 
never forgotten the panic of 1831. Every reader is bound 
to respect the rebellion of " Drecl," and there is no human 
heart but that must throb in sympathy, with his wrongs. 

Here — when the author comes to intense work — we find 
the best writing in the book. Her descriptions of the 
weird scenery of the Great Dismal Swamp; the strange, 
night effects, the wild grief and indignation which deepen 
in the heart of the black man, who is hiding from the light 
of day, into a barbaric desire for retribution ; his stealthy 
excursions into the open country and night visits to his 
old haunts, his vehement words and exhortations and warn- 
ings which rise into awful majesty at times, his deep son- 
orous chanting and defiant, exultant songs as he retreats far 
away into the fastnesses of the swamps, suffice to fill the 
heart with the awesome fear, which then shadowed the 
hearthstones of the most supercilious gentry of the South. 

The camp meeting, served as a rendezvous for the 
various classes represented by the families of the Gordons 
and their friends, the Cripps, the brutal father and the woman 
who, an appropriate mate for him, was to become a poor 
mother to her children ; old Tiff' and the children whom he 
watched over with tender solicitude ; the principal slaves 
who are introduced to the reader, and the clerical leaders of 
several denominations of religious bodies which were prom- 
inent in the South. 

The picturesqueness of the meeting is undeniable and 
the episodes are suggestive and comprehensive. Here also 



234 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

come in conversations between brother ministers, clerical 
jokes and grave discussions, the last of which embody the 
existing views and state of religious opinion which prevail- 
ed in the Southern ecclesiastical societies at that period. 

The scene in the grove at the evening session, is one 
of the most highly dramatic passages, in all the author's 
writings. Clouds obscure the sky and flaring torches give a 
fitful light, which now irradiates, now leaves, in shadow, the 
sea of faces turned toward the speaker's stand. The tide of 
feeling runs high, and hymns, prayers, and excited exhorta- 
tions follow in quick succession — spurred on by the voice 
of the minister, who welcomes and applauds every soul 
who declares itself a convert — groans, exclamations and 
shouts, come from all parts of the ground. Suddenly, a 
voice speaking in clarion tones, rings through the trees I 
Words of warning and vengeance in lofty language burning 
with awful force, full of savage imagery, eloquent with nat- 
ural grace, send terror to every heart. The throng is 
startled into stillness! They listen breathlessly. We see the 
superstitious terror of the people, feel with them the awful 
portent of this strange manifestation, almost believe with 
them, that this is a supernatural message. It is no wonder 
the meeting breaks up in awe, that groups talk fearfully 
of the judgment day, that slave traders feel their hair rise 
at recollection of it, that drivers suffer temporary remorse 
over recent cruelties and try to justify their course by cit- 
ing the religious tolerance of an usage, which makes abuses 
inevitable ! 

In depicting the visit of Nina Gordon to the home of the 
Claytons, the author very cleverly shows, in her intro- 
duction of a fete in Nina's honor, planned and carried out by 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 235- 

the slaves of the plantation, the capabilities of the African 
race in the way of singing, dancing, and spectacular and his- 
trionic art. She also represents in the school taught by 
Miss Anne Clayton the opportunities, too generally neglect- 
ed, which were open to the conscientious slave holder or 
his wife or daughters. 

In the account of the case in court, undertaken by 
Edward Clayton, which was in prosecution of a man 
who had shamefully maltreated, even to shooting, the 
slave woman Molly, whom he had hired from the Gor- 
don family, Mrs. Stowe gives the results of her study of 
the legal aspect of the rights of a slave, and a full digest 
of the laws, which resulted in the decision of Judge 
Clayton against his son. It is unnecessary to say that this 
decision is not an imaginary one, but founded upon a fact 
in the history of Southern jurisdiction. This decision, 
which is doubtless familiar to many readers, declared it the 
imperative duty of the judges to recognize the full domin- 
ion of the owner over the slave, and that this dominion 
ivas essential to the value of slaves as property, to the 
security of the master and the public tranquillity, greatly de- 
pendent upon their subordination. The scene in court, the 
earnest feeling of Edward Clayton, who assumed the case 
upon conscientious grounds; the clear, dispassionate words 
of the Judge, who is obliged to declare against his sense 
of justice and his affection for his son ; the attitude of 
pretty Nina Gordon, who dilates with indignation at the 
outrage of her faithful nurse, and pride at her lover's stand, 
the comments of the listeners and Edward Clayton's digni- 
fied, public withdrawal from the bar, which imposed such 
conditions upon the exponents of the law, forms a highly 



236 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

interesting and instructive chapter. The after conversa- 
tion of Judge Clayton and his son, gives a fair idea of 
the pros and cons of the system which made society what 
it was, in the South. 

Then follows the intense description of the coming of 
the dark pestilence which had been threatened in that 
section. We see the horrors of cholera, as it raged in 
the United States at several periods, written from Mrs. 
Stowe's observation as an eye-witness, and a victim who 
narrowly escaped death. She gives a vivid portrayal of 
the scourge which devastates plantations, sweeps away 
whole families, leaving homes desolate, and culminates, so 
far as the reader's interest is concerned, in the death of 
Nina Gordon, then just coming into the beauty and devel- 
oped grace and goodness of her womanhood. No one can 
read without emotion of her brave devotion to her people, 
her fearless and spontaneous kindness to the stricken and 
dying on every hand, and at last, of her own sinking before 
the hand of the destroyer and passing away, when the 
hopes of all are centered in her. 

The death of Nina, relegates her people to the owner- 
ship of the wretched Tom Gordon, who begins full soon to 
wreak his vengence upon his hated half brother, and to give 
free rein to his lust for Lizette, Harry's pretty quadroon 
wife, whom Nina had bought, to rescue from him. Harrv 
Gordon escapes with his wife upon horseback to the wild 
fastnesses of. the Dismal Swamp, where Dred, and other 
hunted beings make their refuge, and old Tiff, with 
the Cripps children, who were suffering abuse under 
the hands of a depraved and brutal father, soon fol- 
lows them to their retreat. In the chapters called "A 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 237 

Clerical Conference " and " The Result," the author sets 
forth without passion, the state of the "Old School" of 
Presbyterians who were largely slave holders, and their 
differences with their brethren of the " New School " among 
whom were many ardent abolitionists. A careful study of 
the facts, here collected and put into form, will clear away 
some of the mistaken impressions, which have caused many 
good people to make sweeping denunciations of the whole 
of that branch of the evangelical church, in the United 
States. 

Mrs. Stowe appears in this, as in all other questions 
which she has undertaken to discuss, not as a violent parti- 
san but as a faithful exponent of the truth. Being the 
woman she was, she could not have done otherwise. 

The chapter headed " Jegar Sahadutha" contains some 
terrible scenes. They are nevertheless all founded upon 
facts in judicial record, of the most fiend-like cruelty, ter- 
minating in the death of the victim, the perpetrators of which } 
though judiciously examined, escaping death and often any 
punishment as penalty for the crime. In her Appendix, — 
for Mrs. Stowe had seen the necessity of citing her author- 
ities, — there are several cases which prove that her represen- 
tation was not overdrawn. The bright and very matter-of- 
fact conversations of Frank Russell, a young lawyer friend 
of Edward Clayton, now make a vastly entertaining chap- 
ter, wherein may be seen the average appreciation and re- 
spect for " the powers that be," whose authorities could not 
be denied except by pointing as did Edward Clayton, to a 
force, which, by the pro-slavery advocates, seemed entirely 
left out of the question — God. 

The lynching of good Father Dickson, by rash Tom 



238 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Gordon and his desperate followers, affords a view of a state 
of society now hardly possible in any corner of our land, 
not even in the most remote regions of the mountainous 
mining camps of the far west, there being men of culture, 
men of right feeling and justice under the rough exterior 
of those pioneers, who prevail. A state which could only 
have been possible in the United States, except under just 
the system so graphically described in this work, which had 
been defended very earnestly, as " a Christianizing Insti- 
tution." ! ! ! 

The hunting out of the slaves, who had intrenched them- 
selves in the swamps, the killing of Dred and others ; the 
escape of Harry Gordon, his wife, Aunt Milly and other 
negroes to the north, the working of " lynch law," which 
this time threatened Edward Clayton, who was only saved 
by the perspicacity of his friend Frank Russell, who tolled 
the ruffians down to Muggins groggery and assisted them 
to get drunk, with further discussions of the political situa- 
tion by the polished lawyers and influential gentlemen who 
visited Judge Clayton, — brings the story to an end. Does 
it not offer a strange fabric to the eye of the reader ? This 
is woven of the threads of human existence, but it is not 
the coarse cloth of the slave garb. True it has rough 
threads, coarse fiber and rude excrescences, but it is unmis- 
takably woven of the material found in the lives of the 
Southern aristocracy. There are lines of fine silk, occa- 
sional hues which are rich and pleasant to look upon, but 
the whole fabric is rotten, filthy and loathsome to the 
senses. 

Mrs. Stowe had launched her broadside at the " system " 
which so cruelly oppressed black men. She now held up 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 239 

to its advocates, a mirror in which they must view them- 
selves, as they had become, under its influence. 

The unities of the story are not well preserved. The 
progress of the theme is halting, and it is plainly evident 
that this is a mere framework set up by the author upon 
which to hang her facts and deductions, concerning the 
state of social life under slavery. But there are constantly 
introduced in conversation, dissertations and ideas upon 
this theme, which, while they doubtless mar the artistic 
value of "Dred " as a novel, make it a valuable supplement 
to " Uncle Tom's Cabin." After reading these anti-sla- 
very books, no vulnerable point seems left untouched, no 
argument in favor of slavery remains unanswered. 

Anything emanating from the pen of the author of 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin " was now sure of a large sale and 
"Dred" was widely circulated, adding materially to 
the income of its hard-working writer. One hundred and 
fifty thousand copies were sold in the United States in a 
twelvemonth, and it has been in constant demand for thirty- 
five years. On account of the numerous changes made in 
the publishing firm which issued this book, it is not 
feasible to estimate how many editions have been sold in 
the United States. The London publishers, now merged 
into the firm of Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Riving- 
ton, courteously report a sale up to the present time of one 
hundred and sixty-five thousand copies, upon which they 
have paid a handsome royalty. Allowing at the lowest 
estimate, an equal number, for the United States, and pro- 
portionately smaller sales in France, Germany and all other 
countries it will be seen that " Dred " has had a sale, second 
only to "Uncle Tom's Cabin." 



CHAPTER XI. 

MRS, STOWE'S SECOND TRIP TO EUROPE. THE AUTHOR OF 
"UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" IN HER HOME AT ANDOVER. 
SOME DOGS WHO HAVE APPEARED AS CHARACTERS, IN 
MRS. STOWE'S WRITINGS. THE DEATH OF HENRY STOWE 
AT DARMOUTH. THE INFLUENCE OF THE SAD EVENT UPON 
MRS. STOWE'S THEOLOGICAL VIEWS. JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 
AND FRANCIS H. UNDERWOOD VISIT MRS. STOWE AT ANDOVER 
IN BEHALF OF THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY. ACCOUNT OF 
THE BEGINNINGS OF THAT MAGAZINE. MRS. STOWE'S 
ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE MONTHLY. U THE MINISTER'S 
WOOING." A WONDERFUL PIECE OF THEOLOGICAL CRIT- 
ICISM. AS WARMLY WELCOMED AND BITTERLY ASSAILED, 
AS HER ANTI-SLAVERY STORY. ' THE INDIVIDUALS WHO 
STOOD FOR SOME OF THE PROMINENT CHARACTERS. 

When, in the spring of 1856, the story of " Dred " was 
ready for the press the Stowes again began to plan for a 
trip to Europe. Mrs. Stowe went for the purpose of bring- 
ing it out in London and Paris, simultaneously with its pub- 
lication in Boston, to thus secure for it a copyright in those 
countries. Professor Stowe, accompanied his wife, and 
a party consisting of Mrs. Stowe's sister Mrs. Perkins, her 
twin daughters now nearly twenty years of age, and her 
oldest son, Henry, joined them in this journey. When 
the necessary business had been attended to, the party was 
broken up by the return to America of Professor Stowe 
240 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 241 

and his son, who was a student at Dartmouth College. 
The daughters were placed at Madame Beaurieau's^enszb/i, 
where they remained for the ensuing year, studying the 
French language and literature, and going out under the chap- 
eronage of the excellent Madame. Mrs. Stowe and Mrs. Per- 
kins then went to Italy, spending some time at Florence and 
Rome, enjoying much in art, and collecting materials for 
the Italian tale which later appeared. 

Mrs. Stowe returned home rested and strengthened. She 
was now the famous American woman, and received at her 
home in Andover, distinguished visitors from all parts of 
the United States and from foreign countries. Those who 
had had the slightest acquaintance with her or her family, 
hastened to renew their friendship, and paid her many at- 
tentions, most of which were deeply gratifying. Did any 
savor of toadyism or cant, she still received them with 
quiet courtesy, for was it not a tribute which indi- 
cated the growing sympathy of the world in the cause 
nearest to her heart ? 

She singularly failed to realize the curiosity which 
centers about a celebrated person, and frequently said 
to visitors, in her simple directness of manner. 

" Certainly I am glad to see you. Glad to know yon have 
read ' Uncle Tom.' I don't see why you should care to come 
so far to see me, for I am not much to look at, and my home 
is very plain, but I thank you for your kind words." 

Would it were possible to convey an idea of the indubit- 
able sincerity which shone in the clear gray-blue eyes and 
the homely kindness which was felt in the voice and the 
firm clasp of her small hand ! It had a charm so peculiar 
and impressive, as to instantly convert enemies into friends, 



242 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF ' 

changing indifference or mere curiosity into an enthusiastic 
feeling of loyalty and love. 

From a gentleman distinguished in American literature 
and public affairs, we receive a glimpse of the home at 
Andover : 

" I visited Mr. and Mrs. Stowe in Andover. They lived in a 
large, comfortable stone house and enjoyed the well-earned leisure. 
Their circumstances had not been very brilliant before the success 
of the great novel. When fortune turned Mrs. Stowe was be- 
sieged on all hands by needy people, even by strangers, and, as 
she was generous, a large part of her income was given away in 
charity. The children were nearly all handsome, and in every 
way attractive. They were full of animal life, too, and were danc- 
ing about with eager laughter and beaming eyes. I said something 
to Professor Stowe about their lively ways and ready speech, and 
he, with a look of deep pride, exclaimed, " Yes, Beechers, every one 
of them ! " This was said quite naturally as if there could be no 
question which side of the house their'brilliant qualities came from. 
The self-abnegation rather touched me. I did not find it at all 
comic." 

There was furthermore an element in the domestic life of 
the Stowe family, which cannot be unmentioned without 
leaving out one of the most lovable characteristics of the 
family, and one which frequently appears impersonated in 
Mrs. Stowe's writings. It was the fondness for pets, and es- 
pecially dogs and cats, in which the children were fully sup- 
ported by the scholarly professor of theology and the warm 
hearted mother, now grown famous through her literary 
work. 

At Cincinnati there had been a noble mastiff, " poor old 
Carlo," as they fondly referred to him, who had been the 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 243 

devoted slave and loving protector of little "Prince Char- 
ley "who died. He was as big as a calf, of a tawny, yellow 
color with great, clear, honest eyes. He fell in love with the 
Stowe children, and ran away from his less attractive home 
to be with appreciative friends. He was particularly fond 
of the Professor and would pat quietly into the study, where 
he was engaged with his Greek and Latin books, and wait 
for a word, until the busy student was fain to stop and give 
him the caress he asked, when he would retire, content. 

When Prince Charley's merry voice was heard no more, 
and his little feet trotted no more through the halls, Carlo's 
mournful search for his lost little master, and low cries over 
the empty baby carriage, were the most heart-breaking things 
in those days of grief. Much to the sorrow of the family 
Carlo was left at Cincinnati when they wended their way 
to the new home upon the piney coast of Maine. 

Once settled there, a neighbor having a litter of New- 
foundland puppies, and knowing how happy any dog might 
be who found a welcome in the home of the Stowes, pre- 
sented the children with a brisk, funny puppy, whom they 
welcomed with acclamation, and christened Eover. It was 
not a misnomer, for he became their constant companion 
in the tramps of the four elder ones, by the seashore, fish- 
ing, clamming, or sailing ships, hunting flowers and birds 
nests in the woods, or dashing and splashing among the cat- 
tails and sweet flags as familiarly as so many muskrats. In 
the words of his illustrious mistress, upon whom he often 
dashed with the most friendly confidence, — "a jollier, live- 
lier, more loving creature never wore dog skin," and his 
pranks and knowing performances were often recounted by 
her. 



2-i-i THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

When the Stowes left Brunswick for Andover, Rover 
went with them, and Charley the Second, the youngest 
child, born a few months before Mrs. Stowe's immortal 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" was commenced, regarded the dog 
with the deepest affection and respect. The attempts of 
the toddling boy, who made disastrous attempts to scratch 
his ear with his foot as Rover did, and once came home 
dripping from a neighboring swamp, where he had been 
lying down in the water with his canine friend, are tradi- 
tions which still cause much merriment in the family. 

Rover formed a part of every domestic scene. At family 
prayers he laid beside his master, looking up reflectively 
with his great soft eyes, which held all the sweet serious- 
ness of the hour. When singing or frolicking or games 
were going on, Rover was in the thickest of the melee, 
barking and frisking in insane glee. At night he stretched 
his furry length by the bedside of his master and mistress 
and slept with one ear open for strange noises. 

Later, when the older boys were away at school and the 
young ladies thinking of going to Paris for "finishing," the 
youngest son prevailed upon his father, who had declared 
no dog should ever take Rover's place, to admit a little, 
jolly, low-bred cur to the house for his playmate. When 
Master Charles' friends reviled him as a dog of no degree, 
he sturdily informed them his papa said, " he was a pure 
mongrel," which no one cared to dispute. This small black 
individual was named " Stromion " from a German fairy 
tale, which the Professor was fond of reading in the family 
circle. 

Then Henry, who was in the Academy, led home an enor- 
mous, old black Newfoundland which had fallen to his ten- 



uncle tom's cabin. 245 

der mercies, and Eliza, seeing that the edict against dogs 
had been withdrawn, having cast her eyes longingly upon a 
charming Italian greyhound at a Boston fancier's, returned 
one day with him in her arms. He was a fairy-like creat- 
ure, white as snow with the exception of one mouse-colored 
ear. He was named Giglio and fully embodied all the 
beauty, grace, and coquettish action of a young prince from 
elfland. 

Professor Stowe was somewhat indignant, when he learned 
that a third dog had been brought into the house, but his 
righteous impatience lost force, when, two mornings after 
his Highness' arrival, the Professor was seen carrying him 
down stairs, petting him in the most natural and approved 
small talk. 

So the stone house at Andover became a veritable Cunop- 
olis, in which the family were always more or less under 
the paw of these four-footed tyrants, who often went beyond 
their privileges, and overrun the house and its most staid 
visitors. Mrs. Stowe related with many a smile, how 
the most reverend theological dignitaries, were reduced to 
unbending and even grave familiarities, by the impudence 
of doughty Stromion, who would seat himself attentively 
before them, and place a stumpy paw upon the broadcloth- 
covered knee, going so far as to bark imperatively, if recog- 
nition were delayed. 

" Old Prince " was passionately fond of music and would 
push and elbow his way into the parlor with dogged deter- 
mination, when there was playing or singing. 

When the young ladies went to Paris to enter Madame 
Beaurieau's pension, Giglio the beautiful, was smuggled on 
board the Fulton, and during the very stormy and cold 



246 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Marcli passage lie lay rolled up in his blanket like a sea- 
sick gentleman. 

Once in Paris, Giglio, who was evidently spoiled by the 
attentions he had received upon the voyage ran away leav- 
ing his mistress desolate. Months afterwards, they saw 
him m the Champs Elysees tenderly cared for by a liveried 
servant, and left the fair inconstant to his brilliant destiny. 

When Mrs. Stowe and her sister, arrived at Florence, 
they made the acquaintance of a lady who presented her 
with a beautiful King Charles spaniel, of the special breed 
called " DemidofYs," as they were raised at the kennels of a 
Kussian prince of that name, who had a villa in the sub- 
urbs. She was a pretty, beseeching little pet, looking as if 
she had just jumped out of some of the splendid old Ital- 
ian pictures and was of the rare type which Ruskin calls 
"fringy paws." She was christened Florence after her na- 
tive city. She was taken to Rome, went with the party to 
visit ruins and palaces, and rode out of town to the Cam- 
pagna and the Pamnlia Doria. One day going to St. Peter's, 
Florence jumped out of the carriage and wandered for some 
hours about the strange streets, but at last found her way to 
the lodgings of her overjoyed mistresses who had mourned 
her as lost. She even ascended Vesuvius and was nearly 
choked in the sulphurous fumes, but soon recovered her 
spirits, and day after day barked her greeting to the blue- 
coated, red-legged soldiers, and once "yapped" impudently 
in the very face of His Holiness, the Pope, who walked 
near the carriage. He smiled and put out his hand in sign 
of blessing and so the little dog brought a benediction on 
them all. 

Florence came through France where dogs were interdicted 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 247 

on the railways, and more than once made her presence 
known by whines and complaining barks, but the officials, 
recognizing her mistress, feigned neither to see nor hear, and 
she came unmolested to Paris. 

When Mrs. Stowe returned to England, while visiting 
in Kent she was presented with another pet, a skye terrier 
of the most disheveled and devoted kind, but withal a fran- 
tic ratter, who often roused the house in his excited hunt 
after predatory rodents. After the return to Andover, 
Florence had two puppies who were named Beethoven and 
Milton, but whether from the weight of their titular re- 
sponsibility or too much petting, they died young. Wix, 
the Scotch terrier who suffered bravely and persistently in 
battle with Miss Jenny's great cat, and was so mischievous, 
and lacking in moral responsibility that he had to be sent 
to Boston when the family removed to Hartford, ends the 
catalogue of canine pets as described by herself, until Mrs. 
Stowe's later residence in that city, when in time, came new 
pets with which the writer had a personal acquaintance 
and warm friendship. They may be introduced, for surely 
to the sympathetic reader, in every affectionate family, 

" The cat will mew and dog will have his day.'* 

In the autumn after Mrs. Stowe had returned home 
from her second European trip, occurred one of the great 
sorrows of her life. It was the accidental death of her son 
Henry, just coming into noble manhood and full of prom- 
ise of an honorable future in this life. The young ladies 
being in Paris and this son at college, Mrs Stowe had felt 
her burdens somewhat lightened and found time for rest 
and recreation. She was at this time visiting her brother 



248 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Henry Ward Beecher in Brooklyn. Professor Stowe was 
at home with his youngest daughter, when Professor Park, 
of the Theological Seminary, to whom the sad intelligence 
had been sent, came to tell him of the drowning of his son. 

Henry Stowe had been bathing with a party of students 
and although a good swimmer, had been seized with cramps 
and drowned before aid could be given him. The story 
which good people are fond of repeating, to the effect that 
Professor Stowe met Dr. Park upon the threshold saying, 
" Brother Park, you need not tell me, my son Henry is 
dead, I saw him drowning," is not verified by the facts. 
It would most interestingly accord with a so-called clair- 
voyant faculty which Professor Stowe possessed, but 
Dr. Park states that no such conversation occurred. Pro- 
fessor Stowe was totally unprepared for the sad announce- 
ment. How Mrs. Stowe received the crushing announce- 
ment and came home to weep over the body of her dead 
boy it is not the purpose of this history to describe, 
though it was an event which saddened her life and gave 
rise to new and wondering thoughts, upon the ordering of 
the universe and the baffling incongruities of human ex- 
istence. 

Having written three anti -slavery books, Mrs. Stowe 
had the comforting consciousness that while she worked 
•or rested, whether she was sleeping or waking, holding the 
subject in mind or releasing herself temporarily from its 
thrall, they were speaking for her, the world around — speak- 
ing movingly and with convincing argument to millions of 
eager readers. Mrs. Stowe lived on quietly her home life 
at Andover. She put forth at this time a small volume 
entitled " Our Charlie,' 5 which, in treating of the methods 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 249 

employed in the education of her own youngest born, ex- 
tended a helping hand to all mothers of irrepressible youths 
of six or seven years. But with her daily routine of house 
keeping, sewing teaching and writing, went always the 
thought of her dead boy, and her eyes were often blinded 
with sorrow, though she strove with all the strength of her 
great nature to be reconciled to his untimely taking off. 

Her thoughts were turned in upon herself, upon the painful 
mysteries of this life and the future existence, with many 
questionings of her theological beliefs which this heart 
rending event, was putting to a severe test. To her anguish 
of mind, endured under the fear that this son was " unregen- 
erate " at the time of his death, and her intense rebellion of 
feeling against the awful idea of his condemnation through 
all eternity on that account, has been attributed Mrs. Stowe's 
repudiation of the sterner theological beliefs of her early 
life and her acceptance of the more comforting ideas of Di- 
vine Mercy. Her own description of the experience of a 
similar afflicted mother will be seen in the character of 
Mrs. Marvyn in a story written soon after. It was a work 
which was destined to add materially to her great fame, and 
arouse nearly as much discussion in American homes as 
had her first work. It was " The Minister's Wooing," the 
second of her three great books. 

" Uncle Tom's Cabin " had been the irrepressible out- 
burst of highly charged feeling and genius. " The Minis- 
ter's Wooing " was a literary achievement of the highest 
order. It was an intellectual effort, with a maturer purity 
of style, and all the ideal strength and logic of her first great 
work. It was replete with delicate discrimination and 
judicial calmness, luminous with deep feeling, bright- 



250 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ened with humorous perceptions, all of which overlaid a 
phenomenal grasp of the theological aspects of old New 
England thought. It was so admirably constructed and 
unified, that where the reading world had before wept and 
raged, carried out of themselves upon the strong current of 
her emotional thought, they now marvelled, and admired this 
new evidence of the author's intellectual possibilities. It 
was founded upon early New England life and, as inseparable 
from it, dealt most powerfully with the severities of the old 
theology, as held by the Calvinistic church of that period. 

Not wishing to discuss anything more stern and painful, 
Mrs. Stowe represented the Hopkins school, which was only 
one of the multiform phases of New England theology 
during the eigtheenth century. The Eev. Samuel Hopkins 
of Newport whom she took for her hero, was not only a 
pupil of the elder Edwards, with whom he resided as a stu- 
den of theologj' — but also his literary executor and biog- 
rapher. 

Mrs. Stowe's work which aside from the charm of its de- 
lineations is a subtle and masterly criticism of the New 
England theology, was one of the first results inevitable 
upon the extreme doctrines of these great divines. At a 
later date Mrs. Stowe said of Jonathan Edwards. 

"He sawed the great dam and let out the waters of discussion 
all over New England and that free discussion led to all the shades 
of opinion of our later days. Little as he thought it, yet Waldo 
Emerson and Theodore Parker were the last results of the current 
set in motion by Jonathan Edwards." 

It was at the stern cruelty of the exaggerated form of 
New England theology, as it was known in many of the 
utterly atrocious and revolting ideas of the past age, that 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 251 

slie shuddered, and was moved to delineate for posterity this 
picture which, is now generally admitted to be marvellously 
true to the mental and moral condition of the time. In a let- 
ter written from England during her first memorable visit, 
Mrs. Stowe speaks of the preaching of the Rev. Dr. Mc- 
Neile of Liverpool, one of the leading men of the establish- 
ed church, and a strong millenarian. 

" It was a sermon after the style of Tholock and other German 
sermonizers, who seem to hold that the pnrpose of preaching is 
not to rouse the soul by an antagonistic struggle with sin 
through the reason, but to soothe the passions, quiet the will and 
bring the mind into a frame in which it shall incline to follow its 
own convictions of duty. They take it for granted that the reason 
why men sin is not because they are ignorant but because they 
are distracted and tempted by passion ; that they do not need so 
much to be told what is their duty, as persuaded to do it. To me, 
brought up on the very battle field of controversial theology, ac- 
customed to hear every religious idea guarded by definitions and 
thoroughly hammered on a logical anvil, before the preacher 
thought of making use of it for heart or conscious, though I en- 
joyed the discourse extremely, I could not help wondering what 
an American theological professor would make of such a sermon. 
To preach on faith, hope and charity all in one discourse ! Why, 
we should have six sermons on the nature of faith, to begin with ; 
on speculative faith; practical faith and the faith of miracles; 
then we should have the laws of faith, and the connection of faith 
with evidence, and the nature of evidence, and the different kinds 
of evidence and so on. For my part, I have had a suspicion since 
I have been here, that a touch of this kind of thing might im 
prove English preaching ; as, also, I do think that sermons of the 
kind I have described would be useful by way of alterative among 
us. If I could have but one of the two manners, I should prefer 



252 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

our own, because I think that this habit of preaching is one of 
the strongest educational forces that form the mind of our 
country." 

It will be observed that Mrs. Stowe had a high respect 
for the intellectual discipline which was found in the theo- 
looical methods with which she was most familiar, but as 
will be seen, pure logic was found sadly wanting in seasons 
of affliction when feeling rose higher than thought, and 
would not be curbed by formulas or creeds. 

" The Minister's Wooing " began as a serial in the Atlantic 
Monthly at the end ol the first year of its brilliant exist- 
ence, under the editorship of James Russell Lowell. The 
story began in the December number of 1858 and ran quite 
through the following year, being contemporary with Oliver 
Wendell Holmes' second series of essays. " At the Break- 
fast Table, " under the character of "The Professor." 

It is probable that few of the literary critics who had ac- 
knowledged her power as a writer upon the great subject 
which found marvellous expression in " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," were prepared for so strong a literary work as 
" The Minister's Wooing." It made one of the striking 
successes of the young "Atlantic Monthly," largely increas- 
ing the subscription of that magazine, helping to bear it 
upward in its creditable career. 

Just here, it may be said that Mrs. Stowe's first 
great work had been one of the direct causes of the 
establishment of this magazine. Francis H. Underwood, 
LL. D., now the United States Consul to Glasgow, who 
was the projector, and for some years managing editor of 
the " Atlantic," was an earnest Abolitionist. He was then 
a young writer, but has since become known to the best 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 253 

literary circles, as the accomplished biographer of James 
Kussell Lowell, of John Greenleaf Whittier, of H. W. 
Longfellow, and the author of various text books of high 
value. 

" Harper's " and " Putnam's " were the chief month- 
lies in existence at that time but neither of them 
ventured to discuss themes of living interest. Pub- 
lishers and editors were nervously susceptible to any 
article that might offend slaveholders, and their north- 
ern apologists and allies. Mr. Underwood saw, how- 
ever, that the leading authors of the north were nearly all 
on the side of freedom. Mrs. Store's " Uncle Tom's Cabin " 
was meeting the most unparalleled success, and he believed 
that if poets like Longfellow and Whittier, essayists like 
Holmes, wits with a purpose like Lowell, and novelists like 
Mrs. Stowe, were to unite their force, a profound impression 
might be made. Mr. John P. Jewett, the publisher who 
was making a fortune out of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," agreed 
to publish such a magazine, but at the last moment he fal- 
tered, and Phillips, Sampson & Co., after three years of 
persuasion, promised to undertake it. They had already 
succeeded in securing the publication of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," " Sunny Memories " and " Dred," and were carry- 
ing also Emerson's and Prescott's works. When the plan 
was taking form in 1857, Mr. Underwood and Mr. Lowell 
went out to Andover and spent a day with Professor and 
Mrs. Stowe, and her promise to be an early contributor was 
secured. Mrs. Stowe wrote a short story called " The 
Mourning Veil," for the first number of the Atlantic, but it 
attracted little attention, being like all the other articles, 
unsigned, and, while containing good writing, inculcated 



254 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the lesson of profit in bereavements, in the somewhat lack- 
idaisical vein of Washington Irving's earlier, sentimental 
tales. In February 1858, Mrs. Stowe contributed a sketch 
of " New England Ministers," which was a spicy and en- 
tertaining article, containing analysis of character and rem- 
iniscences of noted divines such as the daughter of Lyman 
Beecher was well qualified to write. 

Correspondence with Francis H. Underwood has elicited 
a letter in which he writes: 

I entered the employment of Messrs. Phillips, Sampson & Co. 
with the hope of persuading them to establish a magazine of high 
literary excellence with anti-slavery principles. I had come to 
Boston with that idea in my head. It took a number of years of 
effort to bring together the forces. The larger part of my early 
correspondence is upon that subject. Mrs. Stowe was one of the 
strong friends of the project, and never let an opportunity pass of 
impressing her views upon Mr. Phillips. The project was also 
favored by Mr. Lee, one of the partners. 

After long preparations the magazine was started, and its name, 
" The Atlantic Monthly," was suggested by Dr. Holmes. It is 
not necessary to add any details of the beginning ; but I wish to 
say that without the aid of Mrs. Stowe I doubt if it would have 
been published. 

It was hoped that Mrs. Stowe would write a serial novel for it. 
The earliest fiction we were able to secure was not remarkable ; 
but The Autocrat saved the venture and made it a brilliant suc- 
cess. 

"The Minister's Wooing" occasioned wide discussions 
and many heart burnings, which indeed revive at the pres- 
ent day whenever its subject matter is mentioned to some 
devoted theologians of the " old school." Kev. E. P. Parker, 
D. D., of Hartford, writes of it in a sketch of the author, 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 255 

as a "wonderful piece of theological criticism." He 
proceeds to say: "As such it was no less warmly wel- 
comed than bitterly assailed. But whatever may be 
thought of its soundness and merit, there can be no doubt 
of its great influence. Few books that have been pub- 
lished within the last twenty years have done more to con- 
firm the popular suspicion that the most perfectly com- 
pacted dogmatic systems of theology, are of all things the 
most imperfect, inadequate and unsatisfactory, and to 
strengthen what may be called the liberal, evangelical 
party of New England." 

It was the first of the religious novels, those lay sermons^ 
which have come to be a prodigious power in intellectual 
progress, and by no means the least important among the 
influences which have followed to lead modern thought 
' away from traditionalism towards the scriptures, away 
from a scholastic towards a vital theology." 

In these works, which are sometimes condemned, Dr. Ly- 
man Abbott, with a genial optimism, which in itself is a 
cheering testimony to the generous attributes possible to the 
rest of the human race, sees a spirit of original investiga- 
tion which is not skepticism, but a new and vital interest 
in religion ; not merely a revolt against dogmatism either, 
but, if he is correctly understood, a defence of the holy cer- 
titudes of life, which were in danger of being unrealized, 
so encumbered as they have been by human creeds and 
doctrines. Dr. Oliver Wendell Ilolmes recently wrote 
in an open letter, " There was a time in which I, among 
the rest, felt bound to protest in the name of humanity and of 
common sense against certain doctrines I had heard preached 
in my tender years. I had to suffer for it. In fact I had 



256 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

to undergo martyrdom in newspaper paragraphs. What a 
change in religious sentiment and temper since 30 years 
ago. If one who has thought out for himself a creed differ- 
ing from that of his father had thought it necessary in 
those days to defend himself, he might have suggested that 
a child commonly has a mother as well as a father, and that 
the harshest doctrines passed through the moral constitu- 
tion of a woman, and especially of a mother, come out as 
different from what they were when they went in as the 
vaccine vesicle is from confluent smallpox. Eemember the 
part which women like Mrs. Stowe and Miss Phelps, and 
Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Deland, have taken in the work of 
startling the heathenized churches out of their hideous 
dreams ." 

Mrs. Stowe did not essay to pierce the boundaries of Hea- 
ven or to form a new theology. She contented herself with 
illustrating the influence of the Calvanistic creed upon dif- 
ferent human minds. She did not ignore the mental keen- 
ness and moral strength attained by natures which survived 
the intense friction of those beliefs, but she most tenderly 
and sympathetically portrayed the effect of certain logical 
conclusions upon more impressionable hearts. The spon- 
taneous answer of the reading public, demonstrated how 
full of power was her delineation. 

The scene is laid in Newport, in the latter half of the 
18th century, when the small seaport was all unconscious 
of its present fame as a fashionable resort. " The Widow 
Scudder," who was in the first sentence introduced to the 
reader, is a type of one of those efficient women to whom 
nothing, in the way of womanly achievements is impossi- 
ble, one who by force of her own " faculty," which the 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 257 

author defines as " Yankee for savoir /aire, and the oppo- 
site virtue to shiftlessness," reigned supreme in every circle 
she entered, quick of speech, ready of wit, comely in per- 
son, finely bred, and with the first glance demonstrating 
her right to be. She has from a girl been able to harness 
or ride any horse she required, to row a boat, to do fine em- 
broidery, paint in water colors, wash, bake, brew, make 
wine and jelly that always was sure to "jell," and at the 
opening of the story, appears as the widow of a young 
Christian sea captain, who, from discouragement at want 
of worldly success, and lack of power to cope with the ad- 
versities of life, succumbed to yellow fever in a southern 
port, leaving his ship to come home without him. Of 
George Scudder and his wife, the author writes : 

" He had been one of the first to attach himself to the unpopu- 
lar and unworldly ministry of the celebrated Dr. Hopkins, and to 
appreciate the sublime ideality and unselfishness of those teach- 
ings which then were awakening new sensations in the theological 
mind of New England. Katy Scudder, too, had become "a pro- 
fessor " with her husband in the same church, and his death 
deepened her religious impressions. She became absorbed in re- 
ligion after the fashion of New England, where devotion is doc- 
trinal, not ritual. As she grew older her energy of character, 
her vigor and good judgment, caused her to be regarded as a 
mother in Israel ; the minister boarded at her house, and it was 
she who was first to be consulted on all matters relating to the 
well being of the church. No woman could more manfully breast 
a long sermon or bring a more determined faith to the reception 
of a difficult doctrine." Then follows this delicious touch so 
characteristic of the gentle philosophy of the author : 

" To say the truth, there lay at the bottom of her doctrinal 
17 



258 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

system this stable corner-stone — ' Mr. Scudder used to believe it 

I will.' And after all that is said about independent thought, 

isn't the fact, that a just and good soul has thus or thus believed, 
a more respectable argument than many that are often adduced ? 
If it be not, more's the pity, — since two-thirds of the faith in the 
world is built on no better foundation." 

The event which was known as Mrs. Scudder's " having 
company to tea," is inimitably described and the view which 
is soon presented, of the state of society when "the majori- 
ty of the people lived with the wholesome, thrifty simplici- 
ty of the olden time, when labor and intelligence went band 
in hand in perhaps a greater harmony than the world has 
ever seen," hold a marvelous fidelity to truth, in its com- 
prehension of the moving springs of thought and conduct, 
affecting New England social life. To this is superadded 
the bright picture of beautiful Mary Scudder, the heroine 
of the story, the only daughter of " Widow Scudder," which 
shows the hand of a master, and at once commanded a 
hearing with all the great clientele, who had been brought 
by her first work, to respect the words of Harriet Beech er 
Stowe. It is a precious thing that so vivid and enduring a 
picture of a New England maiden of the highest type has 
thus been preserved for posterity which already begins to 
speak slightingly of the woman of that period, sometimes 
from the standpoint of masculine detraction of their intel- 
lectual force, and again from the ground of the advanced 
woman of to-day, who is inclined to disparage the conven- 
tional boundaries within which the maidens of that period 
are supposed to have been cramped. Take this summing 
up of Mary's accomplishments : 



uncle tom's cabin. 259 

"She could both read and write fluently in her mother tongue. 
She could spin both on the little and the great wheel ; and there 
were numberless towels, napkins, sheets, and pillow cases In the 
household store that could attest the skill of her pretty fingers. 
She had worked several samplers of such rare merit that they 
hung framed in different rooms of the house, exhibiting every 
variety and style of possible letter in the best marking stitch. She 
was skillful in all sewing and embroidery, in all shaping and cut 
ting, with a quiet and deft handiness that constantly surprised her 
energetic mother, who could not conceive that so much could be 
done with so little noise. In fact in all household lore she was a ver- 
itable good fairy ; her knowledge seemed unerring and intuitive-, 
and whether she washed or ironed, or moulded biscuits or con- 
served plums, her gentle beauty seemed to turn to poetry all the 
prose of her life." 

It was a refreshing and salutary picture for the young 
woman of thirty years of ago, it is no less an interesting 
and suggestive portrait to the " society girls " of to-day. 
See this exposition of her religious faith and feeling. 

" From her father she had inherited a deep and thoughtful na- 
ture, predisposed to moral and religious exaltation. Had she 
been born in Italy, under the dissolving influences of that sunny, 
dreamy, clime, beneath the shadow of cathedrals, where pictured 
saints and angels smiled from every altar, she might, like fair 
Catherine of Sienna., have seen beatific visions in the sunset skies, 
and a silver dove descending upon her as she prayed ; but, un- 
folding in the clear, keen cold New England clime, and nurtured 
in its abstract and positive theologies her religious faculties took 
other forms instead of lying entranced in mysterious raptures at 
the foot of altars, she read and pondered treatises on the Will, and 
listened in wrapt attention, while her spiritual guide, the vener- 



260 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ated Dr. Hopkins, unfolded to her the theories of the great Ed- 
wards on the nature of true virtue. Womanlike she felt the sub- 
tle poetry of these sublime abstractions which dealt with such in- 
finite and unknown quantities — which spoke of the universe, of 
its great Architect, of man, of angels as matters of intimate and 
daily contemplation ; and her teacher, a grand minded and simple 
hearted man as ever lived, was often amazed at the tread with 
which this fair young child walked through these regions of ab- 
stract thought, — often comprehending through an etherial clear- 
ness of nature what he had laboriously and heavily reasoned out. 
The elixir of the spirit that sparkled in her was of that quality 
of which the souls of poets and artists are made ; but the keen 
New England air crystalizes emotions into ideas, and restricts 
many a poetic soul to the necessity of expressing itself in only 
practical living. The rigid theological discipline of New England 
is fitted to produce rather strength and purity than enjoyment. 
It is not fitted to make a sensitive and thoughtful nature happy, 
however it might ennoble and exalt." 

One need not apologize for extending excerpts where 
every paragraph holds a truth and a depth of philosophy- 
second to that of no writer of the modern age. In fact, 
nothing can so refute and disprove the charges sometimes 
made as to Mrs. Stowe's unfairness to New England the- 
ology as her own words. She says : 

" It is not in our line to imply the truth or the falsehood of 
those systems of philosophic theology which seemed for many 
years to have been the principal outlet for the proclivities of the 
New England mind, but as psychological developments they 
have an intense interest. He who does not see a grand side to 
these strivings of the soul, cannot understand one of the noblest 
capabilities of humanity. No real artist or philosopher ever 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 261 

lived who has not at some hours risen to the height of utter self- 
abnegation for the glory of the invisible. There have been 
painters who would have been crucified to demonstrate the action 
of a muscle, — chemists who would gladly have melted themselves 
and all humanity in their crucible if so a new discovery might 
arise out of its fumes. Even persons of mere artistic sensibility 
are at times raised by music, painting or poetry to a momentary 
trance of self-oblivion, in which they would offer their whole being 
before the shrine of invisible loveliness. These hard old New Eng- 
land divines were the poets of metaphysical philosophy, who built 
systems in an artistic fervor, and felt self-exhale from beneath 
them as they rose into the higher regions of thought. But where 
theorists and philosophers tread with sublime assurance, woman 
often follows with bleeding footsteps ; — women are always turning 
from the abstract to the individual, and feeling, where the philos- 
opher only thinks, it was easy enough for Mary to believe in self 
renunciation for she was one with a born vocation for martyrdom 
and so, when the idea was put to her of suffering eternal pains for 
the glory of God and the good of being in general, she responded 
to it with a sort of sublime thrill, such as it is given to some na- 
tures to feel in view of uttermost sacrifice. But when she looked 
around on the warm, living faces of friends, acquaintances and 
neighbors, viewing them as possible candidates for dooms so fear- 
fully different, she sometimes felt the walls of her faith closing 
around her as an iron shroud, — she wondered that the sun could 
shine so brightly, that flowers could flaunt such dazzling colors, 
that sweet airs could breath and little children play, and youth, 
love and hope, and a thousand intoxicating influences combine to 
cheat the victims from the thought that their next step might be 
into an abyss of horrors without end." 

The author of " The Minister's Wooing " thus gives in a 
few paragraphs in her second chapter, the intellectual and 



262 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

spiritual effects of the severe theology of the time, upon a 
nature limpid with truth and purity which, willing to sac- 
rifice itself, could yet but feel a strong repulsion at the car- 
rying out of the doctrine upon her fellow beings. This is 
the key note to much that follows in the struggles and de- 
velopments of several characters. Mary Scudder, young, 
beautiful, and full of natural sweetness and light, though so 
held and martyred in spirit by her religious convictions, 
yet felt the breath of warm impulse and natural feeling, and 
had become attached to a young man, a distant cousin, 
whose family connection had given him free access to the 
house at ail times and seasons. James Marvyn was a 
sailor, a frank, joyous, thoughtless lad, with merry dark 
eyes and a head of curling black hair, and a tall lithe fig- 
ure, which was full of reckless manly grace, most fascinat- 
ing to all. 

He was the idol of his old colored nurse, black Candace, 
the hope and pride of his mother, as far as her painfully 
distressed mind allowed her hope and pleasure in anything, 
and from nature and grace, became a favorite with the old 
and young, the poor, the wealthy, the merry and wise ; the 
reckless companions who devotedly followed him, and the 
good people who out of respect to their religious profes- 
sions, felt bound to sigh over his careless happiness and an- 
imal spirits. 

Mary Scudder was somehow specially concerned about 
his spiritual welfare, and from the clear depths of her*pure 
heart, gave him anxious counsel and entreaties to consider 
his future condition. The present was bright and joyous 
enough for .young James Marvyn, and though he listened 
with great tenderness to Mary because he loved her, it was 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 263 

surely the maiden, and not the Word that touched his 
heart. In the description and analysis of the mixed feel- 
ings which Mary felt for James, we have one of the keenest 
perceptions, one of the largest ideals and tenderest appreci- 
ations of the heart of a typical New England maiden of the 
last century, which has ever seen the light. To those who 
have grown up in the lore and the lingering light of some 
of those lives of the girls of a hundred years ago, it appears 
delightfully true and pleasant to look upon. There is the 
reincarnation of our idyllic grandmothers, in Mary's sweet 
young womanhood. Those may well feel loss who cannot 
so regard it. 

The character of Dr. Hopkins stands out as an artistic 
representation of first, a gentleman, and secondarily a the- 
ologian, while yet the philosophy which has permeated his 
very soul does not absorb or quite overcome the human 
naturalness of his heart. His majestic and manly person, 
his courtly grace, his merciful kindness to the lower classes, 
his noble aims and maintenance of right against his own 
temporal interests, his depth of thought and eloquence of 
utterance are presented with the pen of a sincere admirer. 

Particularly does the writer testify to Dr. Hopkins' earnest 
action against the holding of negroes as slaves, a custom 
which obtained in his time in New England, though the 
condition of things, climatic influences which set every 
man to work, made the owners depend comparatively little 
upon the labor of the slaves, who were held as a class of 
privileged family retainers. Of such the character of Old 
Candace is a type. The description of her peculiarities of 
person and mind is one of the inimitable things in the lan- 
guage. 



264 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

In the character of Mr. Zebedee Marvyn we have per- 
petuated, a type which was common to the New England 
fathers. He was a strict, conscientious man, an ardent 
Federalist, with an energy of thought and clearness of men- 
tality which marked the New England character of that 
time; a well read and careful theologian, a man occupied 
with public trusts ; deacon of the church ; chairman of the 
school committee; following up his knowledge of the law 
and his sense of right with unflinching conclusions, which 
he enforced equally upon indifferent persons, his own fam- 
ily or himself. 

Mrs. Marvyn, it may be interesting to note, was drawn 
from the character of the mother of young Professor 
Fisher, whose death at sea made an unmarried widow of 
Catherine Beecher. He is referred to in the story as the 
eldest son, who was a mathematical professor in one of the 
leading colleges of New England. Mrs. Marvyn was a tall, 
sad-eyed, gentle mannered woman of a thoughtful nature, 
which, under the pressure of prevalent theological thought 
had grown into a morbid conscientiousness and insane fear 
of God, which darkened her life. 

She had an artistic soul, was full of beautiful instincts, 
was by nature drawn to the delights of existence. She 
longed for grand music, for soul stirring pictures, for 
poetry, and grace and culture. She starved upon the for- 
bidding look of the old meeting house, and the wrench- 
ing fugue tunes of the uncultivated choir, upon the worsted 
angels, and needle work grave yard scenes upon the walls 
of the homes she visited. She pined for noble themes, for 
lofty imaginations upon the beauties of the world, upon 
the sweet affections and tendernesses o^humanity. 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 265 

What she received was stony doctrines, cruel threaten- 
ings, metaphysical discussions upon intangible horrors, 
word paintings of the imminent terrors of the world to 
come, and constant conversations and despairing wrestlings 
with the awful, irreconcilable questions of Foreordination 
and Free Will. For relief, to get away from the lines 
where madness lay, she occupied herself for days with 
mathematical problems, for instance, once pursuing a cer- 
tain imperfect treatise upon Optics until she found a mis- 
take in the diagrams, corrected it and made the demonstra- 
tion complete. Utterly unable to feel, as she was com- 
manded by theologians to believe, she regarded herself as a 
child of wrath, one of the non-elect, an heir to perdition, 
waiting fearfully for the interposition of a God who ap- 
peared to come not near to her. In speaking of the effects 
of the system of theology that induced such a state of feel- 
ing the author says, — 

" These systems, so admirable in relation to the energy, earnest- 
ness and accuteness of their authors, when received as absolute 
truth, and as a basis of actual life, had, on the minds of a certain 
class, the effect of a slow poison, producing life habits of morbid 
action very different from any which ever followed the simple 
reading of the Bible." 

Harriet Beech er Stowe seemed possessed of the " Realo- 
meter " desired by Thoreau with which to pierce the sludge 
and alluvium of human opinion and custom, and strike the 
enduring facts of existence. By it, she was enabled to dis- 
tinguish the seeming from the being, to discriminate be- 
tween the thought structures of men and the eternal word 
of God. Her perceptions had been cleared through earnest 



266 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

thought and suffering. Only one who had endured similar 
spiritual agony could so speak from the inner conscious- 
ness, from the secret chambers of the heart ; one who had 
escaped from the horror within, out into the sunshine of a 
gentler, natural faith, in the love and mercy of God. 

Those who have so suffered, or been intimate wit- 
nesses of the torments of friends can judge of the truth of 
this representation. That it is almost universally received, 
as truth especially among modern New Englanders whose 
hearts still echo like tolling bells to the familiar memories 
of the old thought, is sufficient proof that the writer had 
presented no warped perspective or unreal picture, but 
instead had again held the mirror up to facts, struck the 
chord of experience and feeling, in the souls of a million 
readers. 

No sporadic arguments can disprove the testimony of 
the universal heart. Indeed one may safely presume that 
the general reader has so spontaneously accepted this pic- 
ture as a reflection of the truth, that any defense seems a 
work of supererogation. There are, however, questions of 
literary and historical observance of material events, which 
will be noted, further on. 

Mary Scudder who had parted from her lover, giving him 
her little Bible with its marginal notes, next appears in the 
pleasure of a new experience, the event of a brilliant party 
given in honor of the marriage of the daughter of one 
of the greatest Newport families, bringing several influen- 
tial associations into her serene existence. She was attired 
most exquisitely under the fingers of Miss Prissy, the lit- 
tle spinster dress maker who went from house to house 
through the town, creating out of stuffs useful and tasteful 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 267 

garments, a character which has "become classic for its clear 
cut outlines and peculiar fidelity to a class now passing 
away under the changed conditions of social life. Under 
the chaperonage of her mother and escorted by Dr. Hop- 
kins in all the dignity of his personal appearance and 
divine office, Mary Scudder went to the splendid fete. 
Aaron Burr who at the period of which the author writes, 
held a name associated with most brilliant success, is here 
introduced as one of the personages of the story. Quite 
familiar by hearsay and historical knowledge of the apt, 
subtle, dazzling and peculiarly engaging grandson of the 
great divine, Jonathan Edwards, who had figured conspic- 
uously in the society of Litchfield, Mrs. Stowe saw in bis 
brilliant personality an admirable figure for her tale. He 
therefore steps upon the stage at the Wilcox's party, a 
startling, distinct, keenly delicate, fascinating and unscru- 
pulous character, a most effective foil to the hero, quite the 
antipodes of Mary's rustic admirers in general and in sharp 
contrast to young, frank James Marvyn, in particular. 
That the practiced, high bred man of the world made a 
strong impression upon women whenever he met them, is 
well known. 

Mary Scudder is attracted to him, but not all his artful 
tact and wary shrewdness in compliment, disarm her calm 
self- poise or win more than a friendly glance. Indeed the de- 
licious coolness with which she responds to his most anient 
advances, is thoroughly enjoyable. Burr became interested 
in this New England maiden, whose pure unimpassioned 
beauty seemed to have a stellar remoteness from him, and 
began to experiment upon her, to his own rare discomfiture. 

The entrance of Madame de Frontignac, the volatile, 



268 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

scintillating, but true hearted French woman, who for the 
time is held in the thrall of Aaron Burr's Satanic fascina- 
tion, brought to American readers a character which re- 
mains one of the most bewitching depictions of our litera- 
ture. Beautiful, generous, impulsive, with all the graces 
of mind and character which the author had learned to love 
in the French people, Virginie de Frontignac appears as the 
wife of a Colonel upon LaFayette's staff, a grave and digni- 
fied man who was some twenty -seven years her elder. 

Married after the French custom which consigns its 
maidens most willingly to respectability and station, re- 
gardless of such a thing as love before the event ; consent- 
ing gleefully in order that she might emerge from the con- 
vent, that she might wear velvet, lace and diamonds, that 
she might go out without surveillance ; regarded by her 
husband as a beautiful though very absurd little pet ; it 
was not until Yirginie met Aaron Burr, that she knew what 
it was to love, then alas, with only mortification as its 
result, and the risk to her happiness doubly great, from the 
dishonorable character of the man. 

Her meeting with Mary is the event upon which turns 
her destiny, for contact with another pure woman's soul, 
one scarcely vulnerable to the temptation which threatens 
hers, saves her from her giddy self, and transforms her into 
her higher possibility as a noble wife and devoted mother, 
but not immediately, for Colonel Burr is yet to be under- 
stood by Mary Scudder ; the bewitching little Madame 
is yet to be won and softened and changed by the atmos- 
phere of the homes of the Scudders and Marvyns, into 
which she enters as a friend. 

Madame de Frontignac soon proposes to give French les- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 269 

sons to Mary and Mrs. Marvyn. The latter was drawn to 
the charming French woman as to a beautiful poem. She 
had for some time been studying the language to fit 
herself to master an astronomical treatise, which she had 
found written iu that tongue. Virginie gives the lessons, 
simultaneously improving her lisping English, and making 
a picture at the spinning wheel with her dainty ways and 
pretty costumes, her rings sparkling in odd contrast to 
the severe plainness of the wooden chair and whirring 
wheel. She soon penetrates Mary's sweet secret con- 
cerning the black-eyed lad at sea, and chatters on most 
entertainingly with a mingling of storytelling, airy phil- 
osophy and matter of fact observation, which bewitches 
her hearers. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE MINISTERS WOOING, CONTINUED. DOCTOR HOPKINS AS 
A LOVER. THE LOSS OF JAMES MARVYN's SHIP. A 
mother's INCONSOLABLE GRIEF FOR HER UNREGENERATE 
SON. " VIEWS OF DIVINE GOVERNMENT." THE RELIGION OF 
OLD BLACK CANDACE. COLONEL AARON BURR. MADAME DE 
FRONTIGNAC. RETURN OF JAMES MARVYN. MISS PRIS- 
SY'S INTERVENTION. THE EFFECT OF THE STORY UPON 
EMINENT THEOLOGIANS. PROFESSOR PARK'S CONVERSA- 
TIONS WITH THE AUTHOR. A RECENT TESTIMONIAL OF 
HIS ADMIRATION AND ESTEEM FOR MRS. STOWE. THE 
MINISTER'S WOOING NOT A HISTORICAL NOVEL EXCEPT IN 
ITS REPRESENTATIONS OF THE METAPHYSICAL EVENTS 
BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE INFLUENCE OF THE THEOLOGY 
OF THE PERIOD. VARIOUS HISTORICAL ANACHRONISMS. 
ARCHBISHOP WHATELY'S ESTIMATE OF THE LITERARY 
VALUE OF THE WORK. A LETTER FROM GLADSTONE. 

The summer passes. Madame de Frontignac has re- 
turned to Philadelphia with her husband, from whence she 
sends very polyglot letters to Mary. 

The good Doctor has gone on with his work, waging 
war upon the Newport slaveholders, who are also his 
wealthiest supporters, and winning afresh golden opinions 
of his women friends at the Scudder cottage, who fully 
appreciate his self-abnegation in what he considers a just 
cause. Nothing is heard of James Marvyn, and Mary 
270 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 271 

is so steadily silent about him that Mrs. Scudder's heart 
lightens with the hope that her affections may be turn- 
ing to the (in her opinion) more worthy object nearer by, 
for it is the hope of her devoted heart that Mary shall 
marry Dr. Hopkins, who she is assured entertains a deep 
love for her child. It is Miss Prissy who comes one day 
to tell dreadful news to Mrs. Scudder, and her words, de- 
scriptive of Mrs. Marvyn's agony at the news from her 
son's ship, that fall upon Mary's stricken ears. The 
scene that ensues is alive with feeling. Mary's crushed 
heart, the futile sympathies of her friends and the prayer of 
the good Doctor raised to Heaven over her quivering but 
almost senseless frame, recall that sorrow which befell the 
Beecher family in the years long gone by when sister 
Catherine thus suffered, while all stood by, helpless, ex- 
cept in prayer. 

To Mary only, the agonized mother expressed her grief, 
she instinctively turns to her young arms and Mary re- 
mains some days at the Marvyn's home, the two stricken 
women weeping, conversing and imploring help in the 
privacy of their sacred seclusion. In the 23rd Chapter 
entitled " Yiews of Divine Government," is the heart of 
the book. It is an incomparable discussion and presenta- 
tion of the whole religion of feeling, in contrast with the 
metaphysical theology which then prevailed. 

See the effect of such doctrines upon a grief-stricken 
soul I 

" Mary," she said, " I can't help it,— don't mind what I say, 
but I must speak or die ! — it is all hard, unjust, cruel ! — to all 
eternity I will say so ! To me there is no goodness, no justice, no 
mercy in anything ! Life seems to me the most tremendous doom 



272 THE LIFE WOKE OF THE AUTHOR OF 

that can be inflicted on a helpless being ! What have we done, that 
it should be sent upon us ? Why were we made to love so, to 

hope so, our hearts so full of feeling, and all the laws of Nature 

marching over us, — never stopping for our agony ? Why, we can 
suffer so in this life that we had better never have been born ! 

u But, Mary, think for a moment, what life is ! think of those 
awful ages of eternity ! and then think of all God's power and 
knowledge used on the lost to make them suffer ! think that all 
but the merest fragment of mankind have gone into this, — are in 
it now ! The number of the elect is so small we can scarce count 
them for anything! Think what noble minds, what warm, gen- 
erous hearts, what splendid natures are wrecked and thrown away 
by thousands and ten thousands ! how we love each other ! how 
our hearts weave into each other ! how more than glad we should 
be to die for each other ! And all this ends . . . . O God, how 
must it end ? — Mary ! it isn't my sorrow only ! What right have 
I to mourn? Is my son any better than any other mother's son? 
Thousands of thousands, whose mothers loved them as I love 
mine, are gone there ! — Oh, my wedding day ! Why did they re- 
joice? Brides should wear mourning, — the bells should toll for 
every wedding ; every new family is built over this awful pit of 
despair, and only one in a thousand escapes ! " 

Mrs. Marvyn's grief at last amounts to frenzy and Mary 
failing to find strength in her bruised heart to console 
James' mother, appeals to Mr. Marvyn who sits determin- 
edly reading his Bible ; but old Candace, takes her in her 
arms like a weary child and rocking her back and forth 
upon her broad shoulder talks to her, not of theology, nor 
systems, but of her heavenly Father, of His love and pity, 
of His tenderness and love to his suffering creatures. — 

" Honey, darlin', ye a'n't right, — dar's a drefful mistake some- 
whar," she said. " Why, de Lord a'n't like what ye tink, — He 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 273 

loves ye, honey ! Why, jes' feel how I loves ye, — poor ole black 
Candace, an' I a'n't better'n Him as made me ! Who was it wore 
de crown o' thorns, lamb? — who was it sweat great drops o' blood? 
— Who was it said, « Father, forgive dem ? ' Say, honey ! — wasn't 
it de Lord dat made ye? — Dar, Dar, now ye'r, cryin '! — cry 
away and ease yer poor little heart ! He died for Mass'r Jim, — 
loved him and died for him, — jes' give up his sweet precious body 
and soul for him on de cross ! Laws, jes' leave him in Jesus' hands ! 
Why, honey, dar's de very print o' de nails in his hands now ! " 

The flood gates are rent; and healing sobs and tears 
shake the frail form, as a crushed flower shakes under the 
soft rains of summer. All in the room weep together. 

" Now honey," said Candace, after a pause of some minutes, 
" I knows our Doctor's a mighty good man, an' learned, — an' in 
fair weather I ha'nt no 'bjection to yer hearin' all about dese yer 
great an' mighty tings he's got to say. But, honey, dey won't do 
for you now ; sick folks mus'n't hab strong meat ; an' dat ar's 
Jesus. Jes' come right down to whar poor ole black Candace has 
to stay allers,— it's a good place darlin' ! Look right at Jesus. Tell 
ye, honey, ye can't live no other way now. Don't ye 'member 
how He looked on His mother, when she stood faintin' an'tremblin' 
under de cross jes' like you ? He knows all about mothers' hearts ; 
He won't break yours. It was jes' 'cause He know'd we'd come 
into straits like dis yer, dat he went through all dese tings,— Him 
de Lord of Glory ! Is dis Him you was a-talkin' about ?— Him 
you can't love? Look at Him, an' see ef you can't. Look an' 
see what He is !— don't ask no questions, and don't go to no reas- 
oning— jes' look at Him, hangin' dar, so sweet and patient, on de 
cross ! All dey could do couldn't stop his lovin' em ; he prayed 
for 'em wid all de breath he had. Dar's a God you can love, ain't 
dar ? Candace loves Him,— poor, ole, foolish, black, wicked Can- 
18 



274 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

dace, and she knows He loves her," — and here Candace broke 

down into torrents of weeping. 

They laid the mother, faint and weary, on her bed, and 
beneath the shadow of that awful suffering, came down a 
healing sleep on those weary eylids. It was true, natural, 
religion this homely exhortation of the unlettered colored 
woman, and the bleeding heart was softened and healed by 
the burst of tears which relieved the tension of the dis- 
traught nerves and made life and reason possible. 

Certain critics question Mrs. Stowe's theology, but no one 
can fail to be moved and benefitted by her religion, if never 
shown but in this scene. 

Mary remains many days at the white house, for during 
the illness that follows, no one can smooth the throbbing 
temples, no one stroke the nervous hands, no one speak to 
the sore heart, as she. Mary keeps silence upon her own 
feelings and when once more resuming the routine of her 
home life, maintains the calm execution of her duties with 
a gentle sweetness, scarcely different from her old manner. 

Madame de Frontignac comes back to Newport with the 
shadow of a sorrow upon her too, and at last gives Mary 
the history of her life with the confession of her love for 
Aaron Burr, which happily but how wrenchingly, had 
been broken, by the finding of a letter written to him by a 
friend, in which the stranger spoke of her so lightly, that 
she knew Burr was false to her, as he had been to honor, in 
approaching her. It had been in time, and her dream is 
over, though the memory of it is bitter. The interview 
of the two women affords a striking picture. The frail 
wife, the staunch maiden ; the deceived one, and the 
bereaved sufferer; the one France, the other New Eng- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 275 

land ; the one looking for strength and guidance to the priest 
of the Roman church which held its wings over her, the 
other striving with Puritan theology to understand and be 
reconciled to a system, which seemed to shut her away from 
the God whom she yet instinctively sought, and believed to 
be a loving Father. 

It is a powerful piece of work, an intellectual canvas 
which presents the mingled threads of life, conforming 
most marvelously with the quaint fashion of the last 
century, but revealing the best qualities and the enduring 
traits of the human heart. 

With her flowered satins, her ribbons, laces and plumes, 
her diamonds and rouge, Yirginie leaves behind her at 
Philadelphia, the old frivolous heart, and comes back to 
Newport, with her simple costumes, her innocent tastes 
and her sunny lovableness, a blessing to them all in the 
Scudder home. 

The year has gone around and Mary has conquered the 
sharpness of her grief, though the deep sadness of it re- 
mains in her heart, hidden from view. Then comes the 
proposal of Doctor Hopkins for her hand in marriage, made 
to Mrs. Scudder in true courtly style. Mary's reception of 
it is touching in the extreme, and her consent, unselfishly 
given in the hope of making some one happy, is the 
thing to be expected from her. 

The reader comes nearer to loving the Doctor, in the 
scene when he is told of Mary's acceptance, than at any 
time in the previous chapters. The impression of the 
grand, self-contained nature, so strongly going out to this 
young girl, yet so bravely waiting a possible refusal and so 
gratefully, with all humility, accepting the blessing, almost 



276 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

makes one forget the natural objection to fate, which has 
given to him the happiness, which should have belonged to 
the young and now lost lover. The betrothal is made, 
and to casual eyes, even to her own desiring heart, Mary 
seems to be happy. 

Madame de Frontignac, warned by her own experience 
regards her with attention. Not altogether understanding 
the hearts of New England maidens, she yet holds a faith 
that girls are much alike the world over, and she can 
not believe that this marriage is to be a good thing, but 
she keeps her own counsel. The excitement in the parish 
when the prospective marriage is formally announced, the 
presentation of numerous gifts, various and widely differing 
in value, the energetic preparations of the good wives who 
speedily find vent for their enthusiasm in "a quilting" 
for the minister's new housekeeping, are brought before the 
eye in the natural procession of events. Then comes Colo- 
nel Aaron Burr back to Newport and makes an attempt to 
renew his power over Madame de Frontignac, who has dis- 
missed him some time before. He calls at the Scudders 
only to meet Mary, and receive such a rebuff and admoni- 
tion as it is probable he had never before encountered. One 
should read the chapter describing it, to see what can be 
said by a pure woman, who is defending her friend from a 
libertine. It is strong and salutatory and will so remain 
while society stands. While Burr remains in Newport, 
Mary stands between her friend and him, pleading, cooling, 
admonishing and saving. 

Much to the astonishment of modest Doctor Hopkins, 
who never imagined that his marriage to Mary Scudder, in 
whose family he had for some years resided, and where he 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 277 

intended to remain at least fur a time, would make such 
a social earthquake, the preparations and arrangements 
for his wedding appear to be convulsing the whole 
parish. 

As the interest approaches the focal point, which is at 
the Scudder cottage, it has served to dismantle the house, 
to uproot and tear apart the contiguity of the household 
goods and throw all into a preliminary chaos, for the house 
is to be cleaned, an operation which always precedes any 
public social occasion, and after that sewing is to be done, 
and baking, brewing and conserving are to immediately 
precede the great event. When the heavier work is done, 
Miss Prissy comes to make the wedding dress, and the 
family is absorbed in the operation. 

Madame de Fontignac ably seconds Miss Prissy's ef- 
forts, and adds sundry delicate touches and suggestions 
which make the bridal robe and appurtenances, a dream of 
beauty. Indeed, so fully does the spirit and sympathy of 
the occasion permeate the pages of the story at this point, 
that no woman can read it without a thrill of interest in 
every slightest detail. 

Sweet Mary Scudder walks by the shore one evening, 
only three days before her expected marriage, filled with 
calm anticipations of the duties of her new life, when from 
the air behind her comes a voice which stops her heart, 
"Mary!" and the tall figure of James Marvyn bends over 
her, his dark eyes looks into her own, his black curls shut 
out the blue sky, his strong arms clasp her to his beating 

heart. 

For an hour she forgets all but him. Knows only that 
he lives, is there, and that he loves her. But suddenly 



278 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

comes the recollection of all the rest, and Mary goes home. 
It is true to her character that she does not for an instant 
think of breaking her word to the Doctor. It has come to 
her as one of the inevitable things in life, and she consid- 
ers herself as firmly bound by her word, as if the ceremony 
of marriage had been performed. 

On the ship with James came his letter from Canton, 
telling of his safety'and full of his spiritual experiences and 
and an account of the misfortunes which had overtaken 
his ship. Her Bible has been an anchor to him, or rather 
a pole star, by which to guide his course more steadily 
than in the days when he had not found it. James Mar- 
vyn has come home somewhat sobered, more serious in 
thought, more worthy of Mary. He has become the man 
she always hoped and prayed he would be, but she is prom- 
ised to another, and that one, a man whom she reveres and 
loves with a peculiar respect and trustfulness ; whom she 
regards as the best man she ever knew. 

But — here is James, alive, and more than ever master 
of her girl's heart, and all light seems to go out of the fut- 
ure. The description of Mary's sad resignation to her 
strange fate ; the anxious fears of her mother which are stilled 
by Mary's view of her duty ; the remonstrances of Madame 
de Fontignac privately offered to Mary's sympathetic heart; 
the innocent complacency of the Doctor who, dwelling high 
up in the realms of lofty thought, has no inkling of the dan- 
ger that menaces his domestic happiness; the artful inter- 
vention of Madame de Fontignac in upsetting a stand and 
breaking a water pitcher, which takes Mrs. Scudder up 
stairs, so that James has a moment to speak one last lov- 
ing entreaty to Mary; and at last, the fearful determination 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 279 

of little Miss Prissy to sacrifice herself, brave ignominy, 
death, if necessary, rather than that Mary should be sacri- 
ficed to a promise which under the present circumstances 
never could have been made; the irruption of Miss 
Prissy, desperate with conflicting emotions, into the Doc- 
tor's study, where she manages to quiet her beating heart 
long enough to tell the good man the true state of affairs, 
is a passage which is a masterpiece of realistic writing. It 
is one which remains a pleasant memory, as of an actual 
event, in the mind of each reader. 

Dear little Miss Prissy, whom happy wives and roman- 
tic maidens will never cease to bless for having broken the 
truth to the Doctor, knows nothing can set things back as 
they were. With this bitter knowledge of the youthful 
loves of Mary and James, the good man cannot require his 
bride, and with a noble self abnegation, only possible to 
such disciplined natures, he resigns her to the dashing 
sailor lad, whom she loves with a feeling so different from 
her affection for him. The scene in which he received the 
blasting tidings and the one following, wherein he, most 
dignified, courtly and graceful in manner, though with a 
breaking heart, gives his bride to James Marvyn, is doubt- 
less one of the most artistic and moving passages in the 
book. With it, is completed "The Minister's Wooing." 

Miss Prissy's letter, which gives a delightfully detailed 
and feminine account of the wedding and the prosperity 
which came to James from an acquaintance formed in 
China, and the brief chapter giving a last glimpse at the 
De Frontignac's, now happy and blest with sons, and the 
mention of the erection by unknown hands, of a monument 
upon Burr's lonely grave, close the work. Any sketch is 



280 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

necessarily a mere outline. It so utterly fails to give a hint 
of the strength, and artistic effect of the story, that the 
writer is tempted to cut it all out, only entreating those to 
whom it is unfamiliar to read and carefully digest " The 
Minister's Wooing," which so far transcends anything that 
can be said in its praise. 

The effect of the story upon the theologians of the School 
at Andover was very marked and productive of some un- 
pleasantness. Prof. Park, the President of the Seminary, 
called upon Mrs. Stowe several times before the story was 
completed, and also previous to its issue in book form, urg- 
ing strenuously that she should modify some of its features. 
This she quietly but firmly refused to do. It was not the 
habit of Harriet Beecher Stowe to put forth an ill-consid- 
ered work, and having decided upon the truth of a thing 
she did not lack the courage of her opinions. She reminded 
the theologian that no one but herself would be responsible 
for " The Minister's Wooing." That it appeared to her to 
be a truthful representation of religious thought and feel- 
ing in the past century, and that it must stand. Having 
studied and thought out its conclusions from historical facts 
and the personal impressions of many people whom she 
relied upon as impartial witnesses, Mrs. Stowe felt no obli- 
gation to modify her statements or disguise her views 
to suit the forms of differing opinion. She desired it to go 
forth as her own. She did not swerve from its support 
when it met reprisal. However, the impression which has 
sometimes been given that the President of the Theological 
Seminary was thereby prejudiced against Mrs. Stowe, is 
shown to be a false one by the sub-joined paragraph from a 
letter lately received from Dr. Park, in answer to inquir- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 281 

ies upon the subject, which contains nothing but expres- 
sions of sincere friendship and admiration. 

" As I loaned Mrs. Stowe some copies of my Memoir of Dr. 
Samuel Hopkins, I was led to converse with her from time to time 
in regard to her representations of him. I regarded these repre- 
sentations as incompatible with the character of Dr. Hopkins. I 
thought that all his wooing was conducted in a more logical and 
theological style than that which was portrayed in her novel. I 
thought that his friends would regard her description of him as 
incompatible with fact. There were some historical and geo- 
graphical inaccuracies which I thought might be easily rectified. 
After the volume was published some resident of Rhode Island 
wrote an article for some Rhode Island newspaper criticising Mrs. 
Stowe's volume in a humorous way. The article purported to be 
a letter written by Dr. Hopkins from his heavenly abode. It was 
a very exact imitation of the style in which he wrote when living 
here below. He was pleased to receive Madam Stowe's informa- 
tion regarding Newport, the place of his former residence. He 
was rather surprised, however, to learn that the sun had changed 
its place of rising and of setting. He did not exactly comprehend 
the reason for the sun's rising and setting in such unwonted 
places. 

"After I had mentioned to Mrs. Stowe some of the criticisms 
which would be made upon her volume, she wrote me a very 
beautiful letter, which I loaned to a friend, who loaned it to a 
neighbor who loaned it to a collector of autographs ; and, of 
course, I have never been able to recover it. In her letter she 
stated that she had planted her seed, that it had germinated and 
was growing rapidly; she did not think it safe to cut off the branch 
that was too long, nor to lengthen the branch that was too short, 
nor to interfere with the natural growth of the plant. She thought 
that facts were very useful in their place, but nature should 



282 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

not conform to them, they were so stubborn. Her letter was 
a rare specimen of genius. I regret that I was so much pleased 
with it as to lend it. 

" So many years have elapsed since the publication of Mrs. 
Stowe's volume that I have forgotten the particulars in which, as 
I thought, she misrepresented the theological system of Dr. 
Hopkins. Of course, she did not intend to leave any wrong im- 
pression in regard to his speculations or his character. I shall 
be very happy to see your Memoir, which will be read, I pre- 
sume, by thousands of her admirers. 

Very respectfully, dear Madam, I am, 
Your friend and servant, 

Edwards A. Park." 

It will be seen that their difference was not serious and 
that to the end of her life she retained the esteem and ad- 
miration of the eminent theologian. 

It appears, however, that there were points upon which 
just criticism might be made, an opportunity which her 
detractors did not neglect. 

While it should be remembered that the author was 
dealing more especially with a history of theological 
thought, rather than public actions, she perhaps rather 
daringly ignored the literary Chadbands who stood ready to 
dissect her work, and with some temerity, adapted histori- 
cal events to her wants for a novel. 

Though appearing as such, "The Minister's Wooing" 
can not be taken as a historical novel, except in its repre- 
sentation of the metaphysical events brought about by the 
influence of the theology of the period. There are ana- 
chronisms in the sequence of historical events which are 
easily discernible to anyone who chooses to regard the story 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 283 

from a " Dry-as-Dust " point of view. It is indeed a ques- 
tion how far the novelist's license may go in introducing 
well-known personages, and how much may be forgiven to 
an author's liberty in transferring actual events to meet the 
demands of his construction and putting them into different 
relation to other real or imaginary occurrences. This 
license Mrs. Stowe took with the utmost freedom, without 
perhaps sufficient consideration of the fact, that having 
borrowed so generously from history she owed it careful 
handling in return. She deferred the love disappointment 
of an eminent divine, which actually occurred in youth, to 
an age when he was happily married and the father of 
a family with several grand-children ; not only transfer- 
ring his love affair from Berkshire to Newport, but from 
the age of the early 20 , s (Dr. Hopkins being mar- 
ried at 26) to his declining years, thereby imputing to him 
the eccentricity (a thing very rare with New England di- 
vines) of having lived to middle age, a bachelor. 

This had been of trifling account had not the dates 
which the advent of Aaron Burr forces us to assume 1791 
— 1797, also deferred some twenty -five years, his outspoken 
objection to slavery. This, though certainly unintentional, 
appears to some people, an actual injustice. His argument 
with Dr. Bellamy, which resulted in the instant emancipa- 
tion of his colored retainer, so admirably reproduced in the 
scene with Zebedee Marvyn, must have occurred at least 
as early as 1784, as will soon appear. 

Friends of Dr. Stiles also felt that injustice had been 
done that worthy and philanthropic divine, in representing 
him, as endeavoring to vindicate slavery as " a dispensation 
for giving the light of the Gospel to the Africans," for at a 



28-i THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

date prior to Hopkins' manifesto, he had made a vigorous 
protest against the slave trade. Moreover at the date when 
the story must have been laid, Dr. Stiles had for twenty- 
five years ceased to be a resident of Newport. 

So it will appear, that by the bringing of so many 
events forward to include Aaron Burr, the author had 
much belated other occurrences, which have to the 
literal readers a far greater significance. For instance 
with the erroneous impressions received above, the care- 
less reader is open to the belief that Khode Island 
was still importing slaves as late as 1795. It had abol- 
ished slavery in the same year with Connecticut, viz: 
1784. 

The uncomplimentary fact, that the average reader does 
not pause to make these reflections, or perceive the ana- 
chronisms, does not absolve an author from responsibility. 
Much discussion would have been saved if Mrs. Stowe had 
received a clearer view of the essential bearings of her 
tale, and, preferring to displace events which from child- 
ish reminiscence were specially familiar to her, brought 
Aaron Burr to life a quarter of a century earlier. Fewer 
critics would have been interested to disprove his date. 
Her desire to introduce this brilliant villain as a foil to 
good Dr. Hopkins and handsome James Marvyn, while 
evincing the novelist's dramatic instinct, seems indeed 
to have led her into a coil with many distinguished 
critics. 

The introduction of Aaron Burr was a daring thing, but 
how vividly interesting, the memories of readers who then 
for the first time realized his personality, will prove. It 
has been deprecated that Mrs. Stowe did not sufficiently 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 285 

hold him up to detestation, and it has been charged that 
she was not capable of understanding the true import of 
a love affair between him and the young wife of a French 
fellow-officer. Her belief in the good impulses which yet 
remained to the grandson of the great divine, Edwards, and 
her faith in womanhood, even when petted and unsupported 
by stern principles, are surely not to be regretted by any 
who desire to think well of human nature. 

The interest of "The Minister's Wooing," to a thought- 
ful reader lies not so much in the external events of the 
story, as in the wonderful delineation of character and the 
metaphysical history, the mental and spiritual growth 
under the existing theological system, strangely distorted 
in several instances, but yet holding a form which com- 
mands respect while it moves to pity. 

This was a far more difficult task than writing of life 
under negro slavery. In " Uncle Tom's Cabin " she had 
only to go from one section of the United States to another ; 
only to eliminate distance. In " The Minister's Wooing " 
she had to take her readers backward three quarters of a 
century, to roll back the years and see and show what had 
been. In the first, it was only necessary to examine and 
investigate an existing institution, to prove the truth of her 
words. Writings upon a past age had to be proven by his- 
torical leavings, and those moreover, which pertained to so 
evanescent and shifting a thing, as thought. But mental 
and spiritual impressions remain and become hereditary pos- 
sessions, when political and social events are forgotten, and 
"The Minister's Wooing" was generally accepted, as con- 
forming in all essential points with the actual conditions of 



286 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

religious thought in New England one hundred years ago. 
"The Minister's Wooing" was published in London in 
parts, simultaneously with its appearance in the Atlantic 
Monthly. It was issued by Phillips, Sampson & Co., in 
book form in October, 1859, two months previous to its 
completion in the magazine. It was also published by 
Sampson, Low k Co., in London at the same date and up 
to March, 1869, a little more than ten years, had sold fifty 
thousand copies. It was re-published by Tauchnitz in 
Leipsic, having a very large sale in the German. 

James Eussell Lowell in introducing it to the public said, 
" Already there have been scenes in ' The Minister's Woo- 
ing ' that in their lowness of tone and quiet truth, contrast 
as charmingly with the timid vagueness of the modern school 
of novel writers as 'The Vicar of Wakefield' itself; and we 
are greatly mistaken if it do not prove to be the most char- 
acteristic of Mrs. Stowe's works and that on which her fame 
will chiefly rest with posterity." 

Archbishop Whately wrote to the author in terms of the 
highest praise, not only pronouncing it her greatest literary 
achievement, but classing it among the most powerful 
works of fiction in the English language. 

As late as May, in 1884, Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 
then Prime Minister of England, wrote to Mrs. Stowe con- 
cerning " The Minister's Wooing " : 

" Indisposition rather more prolonged than usual with 
me, gave me an opportunity some month or two ago, of 
recovering a few of my literary arrears. It was only then 
that I acquired a personal acquaintance with the beautiful 
and noble picture of Puritan life, which in that work you 
have exhibited upon a pattern felicitous beyond example, 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 287 

so far as my knowledge goes. I really know not among 
four or five of the characters (though I suppose Mary 
ought to be preferred as nearest to the image of our Sa- 
viour) to which to give the crown." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MRS- STOWE BECOMES A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE INDEPENDENT. 
THE HOMILETIC POWER OF THE SISTER OF HENRY WARD 
BEECHER. A THIRD TRIP TO EUROPE. LETTERS FROM 
ITALY. HER INTEREST IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF STATE. 
RETURN TO AMERICA. EARNEST WORK UPON THE POLITI- 
CAL CRISIS OF THE UNITED STATES. A NEW NOVEL IN THE 
ATLANTIC MONTHLY. "AGNES OF SORRENTO." LAID IN 
ITALY AT THE TIME OF THE RENAISSANCE. A REVIEW OF 
THE CONDITION OF RELIGION, OF TEMPORAL GOVERNMENT 
AND PERFECTION IN ART. THE REIGN OF THE BORGIAS. 
SCENES IN THE ORANGE GROVES OF SORRENTO. CONVEN- 
TUAL EXISTENCE. INFLUENCE OF THE PICTURESQUE 
ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION UPON THE PEOPLE. JEROME 
SAVANOROLA. PADRE FRANCESCO, A MONK WHO WAS YET 
A MAN. 

In 1859 Mrs. Stowe became a contributor to The Inde- 
pendent, which was under the editorship of her brother, the 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. To this weekly, now the most 
popular and influential religious journal in the United 
States, Mrs. Stowe contributed articles — more strictly speak- 
ing — sermons, upon " The Higher Christian Life," which 
were eloquent and full of vital force, evincing a mental 
power which showed a near kinship with that of her illus- 
trious brother. 

During the summer, Mrs. Stowe's youngest daughter 
was married to Rev. Charles F. Allen, of Boston, a young 
288 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 289 

clergyman of strong ritualistic tendencies, at present rector 
of the Church of the Messiah, in that city. Dr. Lyman 
Beecher, then nearly eighty-four years of age, attended the 
wedding. He was hale and cheerful, and denied losing his 
memory, saying that "like his son Henry, he never had 
any." At that period the venerable divine used occasion- 
ally to preach a sermon, proving the truth of Lord Brough- 
ham's favorite quotation, " In the ashes live their wonted 
fires." 

Mrs. Stowe went to Europe later in the season, and dur- 
ing the next eight months sent a series of foreign letters, 
which appeared at frequent intervals in " The Independ- 
ent." These it is needless to say were read with great in- 
terest by the large number of subscribers, as they presented 
an intelligent discussion of affairs abroad, and especially in 
Italy. She wrote from Milan in October, full of Italian 
enthusiasm. She devoted much space to descriptions of 
churches, and discussed with vigor the political question 
then agitating Europe, upon the arrangement of the Italian 
states, and the balance of ecclesiastical power. It was at 
this time that Mrs. Browning, who ten years before had 
viewed the struggle of the Tuscans for liberty from " Casa 
Guidi Windows," was writing her last noble and generous 
themes, many of which were upon Italian liberty; and the 
two remarkable, English speaking women, sympathized in 
their view of the situation. 

Mrs. Stowe, always in favor of the emancipation of men, 
wrote : 

"There is nothing develops a man like a vote. It changes 
him from an animal to a reasonable creature, and this voting busi- 

19 



290 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ness in Italy has done the work of years in awakening dormant 
minds and making men out of clods." 

Mrs. Stowe and her sister and daughters visited Hercu- 
laneum and Pompeii, and spent some months in Rome, 
where she heartily enjoyed small housekeeping. They 
were the recipients of much attention from prominent per- 
sons, and Mrs. Stowe met many painters, sculptors, and 
literary people of note. She was found to be no less inter- 
esting in conversation than in writing, and various narra- 
tions and descriptions which she gave to small companies, 
of the peculiarities of negro life, or New England character, 
made a very delightful sensation, and Mrs. Stowe was 
more than ever beseiged with invitations and honors. 

Soon after her return in the summer of 1860, Mrs. Stowe 
contributed to " The Independent " an article on the recent 
visit to the United States of the Prince of Wales. It was 
full of her kind feeling towards England, as will be seen 
from an extract. 

" It is not merely the generous and kindly boy in the kindliest 
and most interesting period of opening life ; but it is an embodi- 
ment, in boy's form of a glorious, related nation, of whose near 
kindred America has every reason to be proud. England her- 
self, with all her old historic honors, with garment woven in mem- 
morial threads from the looms of Milton, Spenser, Bacon, Shakes- 
peare, — comes modestly walking by our doors in the form of a 
boy just in the fresh morning of his days, — modest, simple, 
kindly, the good son of a good wife and mother, and it is some- 
thing to make the tear start to see how quickly the American 
heart felt the pulsation of relationship, and the veneration for the 
dear old kindred blood of fatherland, and the proud remembrance 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 291 

of centuries of united Anglo Saxon history, when as yet the tiny 
American Oak lay a hidden germ in the leafy bosom of the grand 
old English mother." 

In 1860, when the political situation of the United States 
had become alarming, Mrs. Stowe wrote for " The Inde- 
pendent" several articles upon the crisis. One on "The 
Church and the Slave Trade, 1 ' which was full of fire. 
In November, after the election of Lincoln, a prophetic 
paeon called, "What God hath Wrought," and later a 
discussion of "The President's Message," which held Bu- 
chanan up to public view in no enviable light. The files 
of " The Independent " also show various poems and minor 
sketches signed by the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 
of which "The Deacon's Dilemma, or the Use of the Beau- 
tiful," is an example. 

With the beginning of Volume Four of " The Atlantic 
Monthly," there appeared the first chapters of a new novel 
by Mrs. Stowe. "Agnes of Sorrento" was planned and 
largely thought out during Mrs. Stowe's second visit to 
Italy. 

This romance which has sometimes been hastily dismissed 
by the critics as lacking in the freedom and grace which 
characterize those stories of Harriet Beecher Stowe which 
are laid in her native land, is doubtless one of the sweetest 
exotics ever transplanted from foreign soil and selected 
from past ages. It was written in the enchanted atmos- 
phere of the blue Mediterranean, amid associations rich 
with historical reminiscence, and scenes replete with visions 
of the past. The story is laid in Italy at the interesting 
and picturesque period known as the renaissance. 



292 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

It was an age of awakening intelligence and artistic 
glories; when the greatest possible enthusiasm was mani- 
fested for the revived literature and sculptured marble of 
Greece and Rome ; when Columbus was seeking a western 
passage to India ; when Cardinal Bembo was writing Latin 
essays ; when Ficino was teaching the philosophy of Plato ; 
when music had become a written language and gentlemen 
sang and played upon the violin, the harp and the flute. The 
intelligence and culture of the upper classes so far surpassed 
that of western Europe, that it was obscured as under a 
cloud. Government roads traversed the mountain ranges 
with thoroughfares as level and hard as a granite floor. 

Lorenzo de Medici was the patron of scholars and artists, 
and Florence, next to the city upon the banks of the Tiber, 
whose wonders and glories have never been exhausted, was 
the most attractive place in all Europe. It was at the 
very noon- tide of glory in Italian art. 

Donatello, he of the sweet and cheerful temper, had 
shone the brightest light of Italian sculpture and gone out, 
leaving his eminently masculine creations in marble and 
bronze, the St. George, the Hercules, and the David, as 
models of Christian heroism sustained by faith. 

Ghiberti had worked out his exquisite sense of beauty in 
matchless bas-reliefs. 

Leonardo da Vinci, the poet, painter, architect, and states- 
man, a man gloriously rounded in his sphere of faculties, 
and Lorenzo, and Perugino, had lived and wrought, and 
Verocchio, made grand accomplishment and passed away. 

The Delia Robbias had bequeathed to the world the un- 
earthly beauty of their Madonnas and the symmetrical 
forms of their pottery. Agostino had discovered aesthetic 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 293 

possibilities in terra cotta from which he improvised a 
new charm, and the hosts of unknown artists who sought 
expression of feeling in pictured forms, had left their hand 
work everywhere. Their ideals, transformed into marble 
were drawn upon walls, painted upon simple shrines, 
running in countless friezes, looking from the frescoes 
of innumerable cupolas and domes, breathing upon a 
world of canvas and living upon wood or stone ; even 
upon so homely a surface as a barrel head, where Kaphael 
in his eager haste, fastened one of his inspired visions. 

Michael Angelo, a young man, was moulding the " Battle 
of Hercules with the Centaurs ; " and Bramante was mak- 
ing plans for a new St. Peters. The shadows of the Middle 
Ages were fast dispersing, great enterprises had been com- 
menced and manners and tastes were marked with a refine- 
ment which permeated even the lowest stratas of the com- 
mon people. 

But dry rot had begun in high places. The age had be- 
gun to be hideous for its debaucheries, its murders and its 
disgraceful levities, cruel tyrants reigned in cities and ra- 
pacious priests fattened upon the credulity of the people. 
Several wicked popes, the worst of which was, doubtless, 
Alexander the Sixth, who held the pontificate when this 
story opens, had so corrupted the religion of the times, that 
monks peddled indulgences all over Europe. 

Many monasteries, which at an earlier period had been 
peopled with sublime enthusiasts, were filled with gluttons 
and sensualists , boys were elevated to episcopal thrones and 
the sons of popes made cardinals and princes. So abhorrent 
had the sins and crimes of the papal and municipal gov- 
ernment become to conscientious Christians, that families 



294 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

abjured the church, and lived apart, in peril of their lives, 
after their estate and fortunes had been confiscated. An 
apathy to holy things had come over the nobility and a 
profound superstition, which we, considering the circum- 
stances, cannot quite agree with some historians in pro- 
nouncing degrading, held the common people. It appears 
to have been their only stay and comfort, when such un- 
bridled license and unblushing wickedness reigned over 
their unconscious heads. 

It was then that Savonarola, the incarnation of a fervid, 
living, piety, the fearless and untiring denunciator of the 
personal venialties which defamed the church through its 
dignitaries, the stern gloomy ascetic, emaciated with fast- 
ing and prayers, preached religion, morality, purification ; 
refusing absolution to the dying Lorenzo de Medici, who 
would not restore the liberties which he and his family had 
taken away, leaving him to die without comfort. Savon- 
arola was a patriot, as well as preacher, who persisted 
against ex-communication, and passed through mortal dan- 
gers, until he died the death of a martyr. As Mrs. Brown- 
ing beautifully recounts in " Casa Guidi Windows," the 
people still strew with violets the pavement where his ashes 
fell, — and says — 

" I, too, should desire, 
When men make record, with the flowers they strew 

************ 

To cast my violets with as reverent care, 
And prove that all the winters which have snowed 
Cannot snow out the scent from stones and air, 
Of a sincere man's virtues." 

When Agnes of Sorrento is first brought before the 
reader, Alexander the Sixth, with his children, Caesar and 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 295 

Lucrezia Borgia, whose very name stands for execration all 
over the civilized world to-day, controlled chnrch and state 
at Rome, and while the lovely child lived on her innocent 
life amid the groves of Sorrento, untroubled and unimagin- 
ing of the sins of the world, the church and the nation were 
approaching a state of corruption, which for a time threat- 
ened to destroy their very existence, and would have done 
so, but for the stratum of right feeling which lay beneath 
in the hearts and consciences of the people. This saving 
element is admirably set forth by Mrs. Stowe who never 
failed to recognize the virtues of true religion, in purifying 
and sweetening the lives of Christians, however hampered 
or limited it may have been by canonical forms, official 
corruption or theological bigotry. 

"Agnes of Sorrento" is begun with a sunset scene near 
the city gateway, over which presides the stone figure of St, 
Antonio, about the year 1490. Beneath the arch, where 
the little birds flutter and chirp and take all manner of 
small liberties with the old brown stone saint, sits Agnes, 
selling golden oranges. A child of fifteen, with a beautiful 
saintly face, yet mature in womanly beauty, as at this age 
are the daughters of the warm south lands, she is telling 
her beads, while the Ave Maria is tolling from the Cathe- 
dral tower. Her grandmother, a woman of stern aspect, 
and strong will and purpose, whose thoughts are more upon 
the practical affairs of the day's trade, than upon the reli- 
gious plane upon which the child so devoutly dwells, looks 
up from her mechanical prayers to see a handsome 
cavalier regarding her child with undisguised admiration. 

When the wave of prayer, which has bowed every head 
as a breeze bends the nodding grain, has passed down the- 



296 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

street, and, with the ceasing of the bell, the world has re- 
sumed its business, the cavalier speaks to Agnes, ask- 
ing for oranges. He impulsively kisses the wondering 
maiden upon her forehead and nothing daunted by the 
fierce denunciations of the old woman, gives the pretty de- 
votee, a diamond ring from his finger, asks her to pray for 
him, and walks slowly away. 

He is Agostino Sarelli a scion of a noble family who has 
been robbed of fortune, family, hope and all that life holds 
dear, by the treacherous cruelty of Caesar Borgia, whom the 
insane affection of his father, Pope Alexander Sixth, has 
made a cardinal, and placed absolute ruler over Kome. 

Sarelli with a hundred men, not one of whom but has 
lost houses, lands or friends through the fiendish rapacity 
of Caesar Borgia, has taken refuge in the fastnesses of the 
mountains, and they are called robbers, because they have 
gone out from the assembly of robbers, that they may 
lead honest and cleanly lives There are those among 
them, whose wives and sisters have been forced into the 
Borgia's harem, there are those, whose children have been 
tortured before their eyes, there are those, who have seen 
their fairest and dearest, slaughtered by the men who sit in 
the seat of the Lord, and all know by experience, of the 
private life of the men who make the Pontificate infamous 
by acts that revolt the conscience of even that licentious 
period, and make a sentiment of hatred which grows into 
universal execration before Alexander's death. 

They know of him as a man of outrageous sensuality, of 
unbridled lust, of versatile diplomacy, of subtle priesthood, 
who controls the councils of kings, who chants the sacra- 
mental service on a Roman Easter day, in a manner which 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 297 

moves the listening world. They know that he is inces- 
tuous, a murderer many times repeated, a buyer of the 
holiest offices of the church. Is there not a current 
epigram ; " Alexander sells the keys, the altars, Christ. 
Well, he bought them; so he has a right to sell them ?" 
He is " more evil and more lucky than ever for many ages, 
peradventure had been any pope before." 

Naturally the respect of Sarelli's followers for the edicts 
of the church, as issuing from such a vessel, is small. Ex- 
communication has no terrors for them. They glory in 
rebellion against the men whom they know are emissaries 
not of the Lord, but of the devil. 

But the beauty of the town of Sorrento upon its elevated 
plateau, running even to the sunny waters of the Mediter- 
ranean, the perfumed air blowing coolly through the orange 
groves which nestle in the valley within sight of the moun- 
tains, a land where flowers and perfume, and out of door 
life, and sunshine and physical beauty are the rule and not 
the' exception ! W here also dwells a native grace and cour- 
tesy, and an easy expression of sentiment which has blos- 
somed forth in art, in music, in melodious speech, in gen- 
tleness of manners! A sharp contrast indeed is it to the 
ragged New England coast and inclement weather of the 
northeastern climate, to the stern and angular aspect of 
the inhabitants, to the inflexible principles which in the 
author's native atmosphere governed every slightest act, 
even every hidden thought. 

Mrs Stowe has so felt the languid lovliness of Italy, so 
warmed and expanded in feeling under its climatic and 
esthetic influences that the reader receives a sense of what 
she has seen, and is permeated with the atmosphere, 



298 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

receiving through her art, full and pleasurable understand- 
ing of the situation. 

Dame Elsie who loves her grandchild with a fierce 
devotion, fears the approach of any change which may 
take her child from her, and of late has become ser- 
iously troubled to know how to guide her existence. 
The maiden, in her saintly innocence and naturally religious 
character inclines toward a conventual life. Dame Elsie 
would fain keep her for herself, a living pleasure for her old 
age, but sees that a good marriage is perhaps the best and 
safest thing for so lovely and artless a nature. Agnes is 
the child of Dame Elsie's only daughter, who, pretty and 
intelligent, had been the maid of a noble mistress, who was 
seized with a caprice to educate her, to give her fine ac- 
complishments and bring her into contact with people far 
above her social station. As a natural result, the son of 
the patrician, loved his mother's companion, and, sincere in 
his love as few young men of the period under such cir- 
cumstances would have been, he secretly married her. The 
birth of a child sent the unfortunate young wife home to 
sorrowing Dame Elsie, in disgrace, and the impetuous young 
husband, into at least temporary, banishment. 

So Elsie has reared the girl with fear, and sees with an- 
guish how beautiful she grows, and that her native refine- 
ment and dainty ways are almost sure to attract some vul- 
ture in human form. She, therefore, keeps an eagle eye 
upon the maiden, protecting her day and night with her 
presence, or upon occasions, sending her to the convent 
where she is much beloved by the Sisters. The education 
of Agnes has rendered her peculiarly sensitive to all reli- 
gious impressions and she lives in an unseen world, peopled 






UNCLE TOM'S CAB1X. 299 

with saints and fairies, tricky fauns, dryads and elves, 
dreaming in a devout ecstacy of Heaven, knowing literally 
nothing of human nature, and this world. 

When, therefore at evening, after meeting the cavalier at 
her stand in the city, she hears a strange weirdly sweet, 
and passionate voice singing below in the gorge one of the 
most charming love songs, which float in the ken of the 
people, rising clear and unearthly in cadence, to the cottage 
upon the hillside where she sits, Agnes is thrilled with a 
strange emotion, and thoughts of the stories she has heard 
the nuns tell, of wandering spirits who sing mortals away 
to destruction. But Dame Elsie recognizes the voice of 
cavalier, and with her eyes gleaming dagger blades, down 
into the gorge, vigorously sprinkles the parapet with holy 
water and leads her child to bed. 

Dame Elsie being considerably perturbed by the serenade 
of the previous evening, resolves to go to confession on her 
way to town and tell Father Francesco of the matter. In 
the description of the monastery, lately under the pastoral 
care of a jolly, pleasure loving friar, who took a long rope 
at the waist, and the recent very trying changes which the 
ascetic Father Francesco had inaugurated, there is a genre 
picture, which leaves as vivid an impression, as though 
each rotund monk with shaven poll and sandalled feet stood 
upon a canvas before one. The brighter side of conventual 
life is by no means ignored. It is shown to be a needed shel- 
ter for woman's helplessness, during age of political uncer- 
tainty and revolution, and the congenial retreat of the artist 
the poet, and the student. The man devoted to ideas, here 
found leisure undisturbed, to develop them under the conse- 
crating influences of religion. But the author also humor- 



300 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ously depicts a conventual life of far less elevating and re- 
fined order. 

" The convent of which we speak had been for some years under 
the lenient rule of the jolly Brother Girolamo, — an easy, wide- 
spread, loosely organized body, whose views of the purpose of 
human existence were decidedly Anacreontic. Fasts he abomi- 
nated, — night-prayers he found unfavorable to his constitution ; 
but he was a judge of olives and good wine, and often threw out 
valuable hints in his pastoral visits on the cooking of maccaroni, 
for which he had himself elaborated a savory recipe ; and the cel- 
lar and larder of the convent, during his pastorate, presented so 
many urgent solicitations to conventual repose, as to threaten an 
inconvenient increase in the number of brothers. The monk in 
his time lounged in all the sunny places of the convent like so 
many loose sacks of meal, enjoying to the full the dolce far niente 
which seems to be the universal rule of Southern climates. They 
ate and drank and slept and snored ; they made pastoral visits 
through the surrounding community which were far from edifying ; 
they gambled, and tippled, and sang most unspiritual songs ; and 
keeping all the while their own private pass-key to Paradise 
tucked under their girdles, were about as jolly a set of sailors to 
Eternity as the world had to show. In fact, the climate of South- 
ern Italy and its gorgeous scenery are more favorable to voluptuous 
ecstasy than to the severe and grave warfare of the true Christian 
soldier. The sunny plains of Capua demoralized the soldiers of 
Hannibal, and it was not without a reason that ancient poets made 
those lovely regions the abode of Sirens whose song maddened by 
its sweetness, and of a Circe who made men drunk with her sens- 
ual fascinations, till they became sunk to the form of brutes. 

" Here, if anywhere, is the lotos-eater's paradise, — the purple 
skies, the enchanted shores, the soothing gales, the dreamy mists, 
which all conspire to melt the energy of the will, and to make ex- 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 301 

istence either a half doze of dreamy apathy or an awaking of mad 
delirium. 

"It was not from dreamy, voluptuous Soutnern Italy that the 
religious progress of the Italian race received any vigorous impul- 
ses. These came from more northern and more mountainous 
regions, from the severe, clear heights of Florence, Perugia, and 
Assisi, where the intellectual and the moral both had somewhat 
of the old Etruscan earnestness and gloom. 

" One may easily imagine the stupid alarm and helpless confu- 
sion of these easy-going monks, when their new Superior came 
down among them hissing with a white heat from the very hottest 
furnace-fires of a new religious experience, burning and quivering 
with the errors of the world to come — pale, thin, eager, tremulous, 
and yet with all the martial vigor of the former warrior, and all 
the habits of command of a former princely station. His reforms 
gave no quarter to right or left ; sleepy monks were dragged 
out to midnight prayers, and their devotions enlivened with 
vivid pictures of hell-fire and ingenuities of eternal torment 
enough to stir the blood of the most torpid. There was to be no 
more gormandizing, no more wine-bibbing; the choice old wines 
were placed under lock and key for the use of the sick and poor 
in the vicinity; and every fast of the Church, and every obsolete 
rule of the order, were revived with unsparing rigor. It is true, 
they hated their new Superior with all the energy which laziness 
and good living had left them, but they every soul of them shook 
in their sandals before him ; for there is a true and established 
order of mastery among human beings, and when a man of en- 
kindled energy and intense will comes among a flock of irresolute 
commonplace individuals, he subjects them to himself by a sort of 
moral paralysis similar to what a great, vigorous gymnotus distrib- 
utes among a fry of inferior fishes. The bolder ones, who made 
motions of rebellion, were so energetically swooped upon, and con- 
signed to the discipline of dungeon and bread-and-water, that less 



302 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

courageous natures made a merit of siding with the more powerful 
party, mentally resolving to carry by fraud the points which they 
despaired of accomplishing by force." 

It is an example delicious in its realism, of a condition 
which the license of the period permitted, with the unpop- 
ular reforms and pious inflictions brought about by a sternly 
conscientious Prior. The character of II Padre Francesco 
however, is one to be remembered with respect and pity. 
The wave of a great religious impulse — which in these 
times would be called a revival, had swept him, with many 
others within the fold of the church. 

It was the fervid preaching of Jerome Savanorola which 
had broken his heart, with the multitudes of those who had 
wept, beaten their breasts and trembled under his awful 
denunciations. The analysis of his change from the gay 
dissolute young Lorenzo Sforza who, in rites of awful so- 
lemnity died to carnal life, and arose spiritualized from the 
coffin in which he had laid ; the mental and spiritual experi- 
ences of the reconstructed man, in whom however in spite 
of all, the old Lorenzo would occasionally revive, is a mas- 
terpiece of expression. The daughter of the New England 
divine had need to think and feel much, to come out from 
her own conditions and enter into those of olden times and 
a foreign country, before she could set forth such a life. 
After dwelling at some length upon the inner life of Father 
Francesco, the author thus describes the influence of Agnes' 
pure sweet spirit upon the haggard soul of the ascetic, who 
thought he had foresworn women, as unworthy companions. 

" The cloud of hopeless melancholy which had brooded over the 
mind of Father Francesco lifted and sailed away, he know not 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 303 

why, he knew not when. A secret joyfulness and alacrity possessed 
his spirits ; his prayers became more fervent and his praises more 
frequent. Until now, his meditations had been most frequently 
those of fear and wrath, — the awful majesty of God, the terrible 
punishment of sinners, which he conceived with all that haggard, 
dreadful sincerity of vigor which characterized the modern Etrus- 
can phrase of religion of which the " Inferno " of Dante was the 
exponent and the out-come. His preachings and his exhortations 
had dwelt on that lurid world seen by the severe Florentine, at 
whose threshold hope forever departs, and around whose eternal 
circles of living torture the shivering spirit wanders dismayed and 
blasted by terror. 

" He had been shocked and discouraged to find how utterly vain 
iad been his most intense efforts to stem the course of sin by pre- 
senting these images of terror : how hard natures had listened to 
them with only a course and cruel appetite, which seemed to 
increase their hardness and brutality ; and how timid ones had 
been withered by them, like flowers scorched by the blast of a fur- 
nace ; how, in fact, as in the case of those cruel executions and 
bloody tortures then Universal in the juris-prudence of Europe, 
these pictures of eternal torture seemed to exert a morbid demor- 
alizing influence which hurried on the growth of iniquity. 

" But since his acquaintance with Agnes, without his knowing 
exactly why, thoughts of the Divine Love had floated into his 
soul, filling it with a golden cloud like that of old rested over the 
mercy-seat in that sacred inner temple where the priests was admit- 
ted alone. He became more affable and tender, more tolerant to 
the erring, more fond of little children ; would stop sometimes to 
lay his hand on the head of a child, or to raise up one who lay 
overthrown in the street. The song of little birds and voices of 
animal life became to him full of tenderness ; and his prayers by 
the sick and dying seemed to have a melting power, such as he 
had never known before. It was spring in his soul, — soft, Italian 



304 HE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

spring, — such as brings out the musky breath of the cyclamen, and 
the faint, tender perfume of the primrose, in every moist dell of 
the Apennines." 

In the confession of Dame Elsie he receives a shock, 
which throws his whole being into a passionate agitation, 
which astonishes and dismays him. He finds, alas how 
shameful ! that Elsie's plans for marrying Agnes to a young 
peasant are scarcely less revolting to him than the thought 
of her exposure to the addresses of a licentious cavalier, as 
these people had hastily decided Sarelli to be. Not yet 
fully understanding his frail heart, he believes that he ought 
to use his influence to bring Agnes into the convent, where 
as member of the pure sisterhood of nuns he could be the 
guardian and director of her soul, the one to whom she 
should be implicitly obedient and submissive. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

AGNES AT THE CONVENT. A SELECTION WHICH SHOWS THE 
AUTHOR'S FEELING AGAINST THE SENTENCE OF UNMITI- 
GATED DOOM WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE GLAD TIDINGS OF 
SALVATION. HER APPRECIATION OF SOME OF THE BEAU- 
TIFUL SENTIMENTS OF THE EARLY ROMAN CATHOLIC RELI- 
GION. FATHER ANTONIO, THE ARTIST MONK. SAN MAR- 
CO. SAVANOROLA'S CONVICTION THAT THE SONGS OF A 
PEOPLE HAVE MORE PERSUASIVE POWER THAN ITS LAWS. 
AGNES AND OLD ELSIE MAKE A PILGRIMAGE TO ROME. 
SARELLl'S MOUNTAIN REFUGE. RECEIVED BY A PRINCESS. 
FALLING INTO THE JAWS OF THE PAPAL MONSTER. RES- 
CUED BY SARELLI. ROMANTIC CONCLUSION. 

Agnes' day at the convent, the morning walk in the dew 
bespangled path upon the mountain side, her affectionate 
reception by the nuns, the moonlight delicacy of person 
and temperament which characterize Mother Theresa and 
the blunt commonplaceness of Sister Jocunda, with whom 
Agnes spends much of the day, hearing tales in which reli- 
gious and heathenish characters figure indiscriminately, give 
a view of the inner side of conventual existence which pre- 
sents its practical realities most entertainingly. The terri- 
ble things upon which old Jocunda gloats with a grim satis- 
faction, are agonizing to the sensitive soul of little Agnes, 
and the author proceeds to discuss the severities of the 
Catholic religion of the fifteenth century as painful in the 
extreme. As painful, were the metaphysical hair split- 
20 305 



306 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ting refinements of Calvinistic torture, as digested and 
exaggerated by skilful and morbid theologians of 
three hundred years later, to the spirits of such, persons as 
Mrs. Marvyn in " The Minister's Wooing." The following 
selection gives abundant example of the feeling that Mrs. 
Stowe entertained towards the sentence of unmitigated 
doom which accompanied the glad tidings of salvation. 

" Ages before, beneath those very skies that smiled so sweetly 
over her, — amid the bloom of lemon and citron, and the perfume 
of Jasmine and rose, the gentlest of old Italian souls had dreamed 
and wondered what might be the unknown future of the dead, and, 
learning his lesson from the glorious skies and gorgeous shores 
which witnessed how magnificent a Being had given existence to 
man, had recorded his hopes of man's future in the words — Aut 
beatus, aut nihil; but, singular to tell, the religion which brought, 
with it all human tenderness and pities, — the hospital for the sick, 
the refuge for the orphan, the enfranchisement of the slave, — this 
religion brought also the news of the eternal, hopeless, living tor- 
ture of the great majority of mankind past and present. Tender 
spirits, like those of Dante, carried this awful mystery as a secret 
and unexplained anguish ; saints wrestled with God and wept over it ; 
but still the awful fact remained, spite of Church and sacrament, 
that the gospel was in effect, to the majority of the human race, 
not the glad tidings of salvation, but the sentence of unmitigable 
doom. 

" The present traveler in Italy sees with disgust the dim and 
faded frescoes in which this doom is portrayed in all its varied 
refinements of torture ; and the vivid Italian mind ran riot in these 
lurid fields, and every monk who wanted to move his audience was 
in his small way a Dante. The poet and the artist gave only the 
highest form of the ideas of their day, and he who cannot read the 
" Inferno " with firm nerves may ask what the same representa- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 307 

tions were likely to have been in the grasp of coarse and common 
minds. 

" The first teachers of Christianity in Italy read the Gospels by 
the light of those 'fiendish fires which consumed their fellows. 
Daily made familiar with the scorching, the searing, the racking^ 
the develish ingenuities of torture, they transferred them to the 
future hell of the torturers. The sentiment within us which 
asserts eternal justice and retribution was stimulated to a kind of 
madness by that first baptism of fire and blood, and expanded the 
simple and grave warnings of the gospel into a lurid poetry of 
physical torture. Hence, while Christianity brought multiplied 
forms of mercy into the world, it failed for many centuries to 
humanize the savage forms of justice; and rack and wheel, fire and 
fagot were the modes by which human justice was supposed to ex- 
tend through eternity." 

Yet in the next selection is demonstrated what was 
Harriet Beecher Stowe's comprehension and appreciation 
of some of the beautiful sentiments of the early Roman 
Catholic religion. It is certain that she never underrated its 
benificent influence upon those who embraced it in its purity, 
and acted it in their lives. 

" To the mind of the really spiritual Christian of those ages the 
air of this lower world was not as it is to us, in spite of our nomi- 
nal faith in the Bible, a blank, empty space from which all spiri- 
tual sympathy and life have fled, but, like the atmosphere with 
which Raphael has surrounded the Sistine- Madonna, it was full of 
sympathizing faces, a great " cloud of witnesses." The holy dead 
were not gone from earth ; the Church visible and invisible were 
in close, loving, and constant sympathy, — still loving, praying, 
and watching together, though with a veil between. 

" It was at first with no idolatrous intention that the prayers of 



308 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the holy dead were invoked in acts of worship. Their prayers' 
were asked simply because they were felt to be as really present 
with their former friends and as truly sympathetic as if no veil of 
silence had fallen between. In time this simple belief had its 
intemperate and idolatrous exaggerations, — the Italian soil always 
seeming to have a fiery and volcanic forcing power, by which 
religious ideas overblossomed themselves, and grew wild and rag- 
ged with too much enthusiasm ; and, as often happens with friends 
on earth, these too much loved and revered invisible friends became 
eclipsing screens instead of transmitting mediums of God's light 
to the soul. 

" Yet we can see in the hymns of Savonarola, who perfectly 
represented the attitude of the highest Christian of those times, 
how perfect might be the love and veneration for departed saints 
without lapsing into idolatry, and with what an atmosphere of 
warmth and glory the true belief of the unity of the Church, visible 
and invisible, could inspire an elevated soul amid the discourage- 
ments of an unbelieving and gainsaying world." 

The advent of Father Antonio, the brother of old Elsie r 
who is an artist-monk from the convent of San Marco in 
Florence, where religion was devout, poetic, and elevating 
under the ministrations of Savonarola, whom all his followers 
adored ; a visitor from the retreat which was recognized as 
an ideal community where religion, beauty and utility were 
wonderfully blended, is an epoch to the reader, as well as 
to Elsie, who is troubled about her child's future, and to 
Agnes, who welcomed with her uncle, pleasant hours of 
social converse, and a sight of rare pictures. For he made 
his drawings by the way, and finished them in the garden 
by her side, replacing the voluptuous and unworthy sketches 
which defaced many a shrine, with visions of saintly purity 
and grace. 






UNCLE tom's cabin. 309 

He was called into counsel concerning Agnes, and made 
her confidant when Elsie had gone into town with her 
oranges, leaving them two with a long glorious day 
together.. 

Agnes had found in her path, a locket set with precious 
stones, which contained upon a bit of crumpled parchment 
a sonnet, breathing pure love for her, aud became more and 
more agitated by the strange urgency of her desire to 
pray for and save the gallant cavalier from perdition, 
whence she was assured that he was swiftly sliding, hav- 
ing been banished from the church and made an outlaw 
by his own volition. While Father Antonio sits in the 
groves and singing Latin hymns and painting exquisite 
flowers and chubby cherubim, old Elsie raises the large bas- 
ket of oranges to her head and turns her stately figure 
towards the scene of her daily labors. 

Dear uncle Antonio opens his portfolio and seats himself 
upon the garden wall to retouch some of his sketches and 
Agnes places herself cosily by his side for a long chat. 
But the good man is called away, to minister at the bedside 
of a dying man, and Agnes betakes herself to prayers for 
the passing soul. When she raises her head from her 
devotions she sees the cavalier, waiting patiently near the 
shrine, and the long sought interview is accorded him. 
He is received by the devout maiden as one who not 
strangely craves her intercessions with the saints, for his 
spiritual welfare. When Father Antonio returns Agues is 
still on her knees, and old Elsie, arriving home an hour 
later, observes with satisfaction that she has effectually con- 
vinced the cavalier that he is not wanted about her orange 
stand, that he has not been seen in the vicinity that day ! 



310 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

The following paragraph presents the author's thought 
about the simple faith of the young girl in a manner which 
draws the sympathy of the universal heart to her. 

" Brought up from infancy to feel herself in a constant circle of 
invisible spiritual agencies, Agnes received this wave of intense 
feeling as an impulse inspired and breathed into her by some celes- 
tial spirit, that thus she should be made an interceding medium for a 
soul in some unknown strait or peril. For her faith taught her to 
believe in an infinite struggle of intercession, in which all the Church, 
visible and invisible, were together engaged, and which bound 
them in living bonds of sympathy to an interceding Redeemer, so 
that there was no want or woe of human life that had not some- 
where its sympathetic heart, and its never-ceasing prayer before 
the throne of Eternal love. Whatever may be thought of the 
actual truth of this belief, it certainly was far more consoling than 
that intense individualism of modern philosophy which places 
every soul alone in its life-battle, — scarce even giving it a God to 
lean upon." 

In discussing the religion which had its birth in the life 
of Christ, but was shaped in outward expression in this 
atmosphere of an almost tropical fervor, Mrs. Stowe finds 
the reason for the form of the Roman Catholic faith. She 
perceives that soil and climate no less than principles, make 
religions. That the same precious truths which blossom 
into luxuriant colors and fantastic forms in the soil of Italy, 
grow sparse and thin and full of knots and angles, in the 
land which the Puritans selected as their refuge. This is 
natural, physical effect. When mind rises above matter, 
and intellect and culture bring all countries and climes into 
aesthetic and intellectual harmony, then, perhaps will the 
spiritual manifestations of the same grand ideas, be similar 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 311 

in outward expression. Until then, the author of Agnes 
of Sorrento felt, that cause and effect should be realized, 
and good wherever found, greeted with pleasure. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe had no capabilities for bigotry. 
She knew nothing of the limitations which, as has been 
remarked of the late Matthew Arnold, were " an essen- 
tial part of his equipment for the work he performed." She 
needed not to shut out the light of day, to make micro- 
scopic examinations under artificially concentrated rays. 
It was not necessary to close her ears to the hum of the 
world to receive a whispered message from the gods, nor 
that her path towards a point, should be walled up on either 
side. She walked upon a broad plain, in view of the blue 
sky, with the sunshine upon her, hearing the singing of the 
birds, feeling a delicious kinship with mute nature, receiv- 
ing the flutter of the leaves and sweetness of flowers as a 
personal caress, conscious of the great Whole, feeling its 
throb as an undercurrent or background of joy and holy 
certitude, while considering the manifestations of life, the 
higher ideals, and grosser failings of humanity. 

When Agnes of Sorrento goes to her Father Confessor, 
it becomes apparent that men are often weaker than their 
conscience, and that the physical body does sadly limit the 
aspirations of the pure soul. Father Francesco learns that 
Sarelli is excommunicated from the church and welcomes 
with joy his power to turn Agnes from him. Even when 
he becomes aware of his own love for her, which from the 
nature of his vows is for him a sin, he desperately swears that 
he will love her, but later enters upon a conflict with his 
carnal nature, a harrowing experience which is set forth 
with marvellous strength and feeling. His struggle and. 



312 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

self-imposed penance of three days and nights in the 
mouth of the crater of Vesuvius, a literal foretaste of hell 
in physical and mental suffering, has a lurid picturesqueness 
and intensity of feeling which is rare in modern writings. 

Hard indeed might it have gone with the love of Sarelli 
and the little devotee, had not the cavalier made friends 
with good Father Antonio. He, an inmate of the monas- 
tery of San Marco, and a follower of Savonarola, understood 
of how little true value was the favor of the Pope, and how 
small consequence was the excommunication which was 
freely pronounced against any whom that potentate could 
not bend to his evil designs. But it was difficult to explain 
the condition of things to Agnes, without ruthlessly destroy- 
ing her beautiful faith in the whole body and soul of the 
church, and he bade Sarelli be patient, promising to be his 
friend when occasion permitted. For Agnes had acknowl- 
edged her love for the gallant outlaw, and had promised to 
be his wife, should she ever marry any man, which she 
seemed little inclined to do. In the meantime Father 
Antonio interceded with old Elsie, that the child should be 
left free from agitation for a time, urging that the arrange- 
ments for the marriage of Agnes and the handsome, bovine, 
peasant lad, which she and old Meta had begun, should be 
allowed to rest. 

Several of the hymns, which Savonarola desired should 
supplant the obscene and ribald songs which denied the 
morals of the youth of the period, are reproduced in all the 
passionate tenderness of the Italian words, with excellent 
translations into English, upon the pages of this story.. 
The great reformer well realized that the songs of a nation 
have more persuasive power than its laws, and in the 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 313 

quaintness and purity of sentiment shown in those he sup- 
plied, may be felt the animus of many of the grand hymns 
of the modern Protestant church. 

Father Antonio returns to Florence, and with him, riding 
over the summit of one of the hills which overlooks the 
oity, is the cavalier who has accompanied him to San 
Marco, to meet Savonarola. The view of Florence, lying 
like a gem in the shelter of the mountains, is a charming 
one and their subsequent arrival at the convent, and meet- 
ing with Savonarola, is full of intense interest which aug- 
ments and reaches a dreadful climax, in the tale of the at- 
tack upon the Cathedral, and the death of several devoted 
monks who defend their master from the arrest, which 
closely preceded his death. 

Elsie and Agnes have been advised to make a pilgrim- 
age to Home, and though the old woman is filled with a 
dread of seeing again, the city wherein occurred her daugh- 
ter's misfortune, she is constrained to go with Agnes to the 
Holy City. She has an undefined fear of bringing Agnes 
within the walls of the city which had seen her mother's 
disgrace, but the commands of their superiors are not to be 
disobeyed, and they start on foot for their long and trying 
journey. It means days and weeks over rough mountain 
passes, in deep, solitary valleys, with such food as the house- 
holders by the way may give them > with possible, nay, 
very probable, dangers of every description. 

They set forth, first receiving the benisons of the sisters 
at the convent, and take their way along the road from Sor- 
rento to Naples. The scene with the shimmering sea upon 
the one hand and the luxuriant hillsides teeming with rich- 
ness of color is picturesque with an almost unearthly 



31-i the life work of the author of 

charm. They are fanned by soft breezes which bear upon 
their wings the indescribable odors of thousands of flowers. 
The burnt sides of old Vesuvius rise high above them, 
streaked with changing color and flashing from shadow into 
brightness under the passing clouds. It is like an en 
chanted dream to Agnes who is filled with an overpower 
ing sense of its beauty and charm. Old Elsie grumbles 
not a little at having to leave home at a time when the 
oranges are most plentiful and sweet. 

Having reached Naples, on they go through the Pontine 
Marshes where Elsie, recking not of the sealike expanse 
which, waving with lush grasses and dotted with flowers 
presents a new and delightful spectacle to her child, thinks 
only of malaria, and persuades a man with horses to carry 
them some miles on their way. This is deprecated by Ag- 
nes who believes in making the pilgrimage in the most 
arduous manner, but the old woman fears illness and death, 
and wishes to fare on as rapidly as possible, to healthier 
places. To quote the words of the author, Elsie, even in 
the course of a religious pilgrimage, "in common with 
many other professing Christians, felt that going to Para- 
dise was the dismalest of alternatives — a thing to be staved 
off as long as possible." 

After many days they find themselves in a lonely dell at 
the going down of the sun, with the forbidding sides of 
a steep mountain rising before them. Agnes is very 
weary, and sinks upon the earth to repeather evening prayer. 
Elsie also prays, but as she tells her beads she casts a cal- 
culating eye at the village, so far up the mountain side, and is 
somewhat alarmed to see several horsemen approaching them. 
They draw near and accost the old woman, saying they have 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 315 

come to help them, and in spite of her emphatic refusals, 
imperatively raise Agnes to a place upon one of the saddles 
when Elsie is fain to follow. Thus they are carried seven 
miles up the crags to the mountain town. 

Arriving at the settlement they stop at a large stone 
inclosure, and Agnes shown through many passages into 
an apartment furnished with the utmost comfort, and lux- 
ury beyond what she has ever dreamed. Soon a strangely 
familiar titter is heard, and Guiletta, the coquette of 
Sorrento, who has married one of Sarelli's men, enters 
the apartment. She informs Agnes that her grandmother 
is quite comfortable and enjoying her supper, and brings her 
food. Agnes soon finds that she is in the castle of the cav- 
alier, who has heard of her journey, and wishes to give her 
a period of rest and refreshment, as well as to again pre- 
sent his claims to her favor as a lover. 

Agnes sleeps long and well, and is waited upon the next 
morning by Guiletta who enters, fresh and blooming, bearing 
a tray, with breakfast. Soon after, Agostino Sarelli, who 
has ridden hard from Florence to meet her whom he knows 
within the walls of his fortress, appears to Agnes. He 
has come from the scenes at San Marco burning with in- 
dignation against the Pope and the whole hierarchy then 
ruling in Eome, his sense of personal wrong having been 
converted into a fixed principle of opposition. He feels that 
the time has come to show to Agnes the true character of 
the men she is " beholding through the mists of venera- 
tion arising entirely from the dewy freshness of ignorant 
innocence." 

He pleads with her to renounce her pilgrimage and remain 
within his protection; to abandon her resolve to take the 



316 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

veil, and be his well loved wife. But the maiden remem- 
bering the anathemas of Father Francesco, who had threat- 
ened perdition not only to her but also to Sarelli's soul, if she 
should listen or yield to his entreaties, refuses to hear, and 
bidding her lover, whom she loves, farewell, she pursues her 
way to Rome, she is carried down the mountain upon 
horseback, as is also her grandmother, who ere now has be- 
gun to think well of a gallant gentleman who can so nobly 
provide for the comfort of his guests. At last they came to 
Eome, and enter the Holy City with a kind of exaltation 
in which is mingled a great humility as they are received 
with ceremonials due to holy pilgrims, and a Princess takes 
them to her home. 

The Princess bathes Agnes' feet and her servant attends 
them with kind office and wholesome food. Agnes imme- 
diately asks how she can gain audience with the Pope, 
as she has much upon her heart she wishes to lay before 
the man whom she believed to be Heaven's representative 
upon earth. The Princess is much troubled to know how 
to answer her, as she and her family had long been too 
near the seat of power, not to see the base intrigues by 
which that solemn and sacred position of Head of the 
Christian Church had been debauched and traded for, as a 
marketable commodity. 

Elsie and Agnes go out in the morning to witness the 
most magnificent ceremonials that the world ever saw, 
when Alexander Sixth received the homage of the kings of 
many nations and carried through with unequalled grace and 
dignity, the pageantry and grandeur of ceremonies which 
commemorated the humble advent of Christ into Rome, 
centuries before. Agnes is marked by a gay young man 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 317 

who belongs to the Borgias' suite, and an hour or two later 
she is summoned to appear at court, whither she goes in a 
religious ecstacy, believing her prayers have thus been an- 
swered. Old Elsie is left in an agony of fear, hardly daring 
to imagine what may become of her innocent child. When 
the servant of the good Princess Paulina, who has come to 
invite Agnes and her grandmother again to her villa, is in- 
formed of her summons and departure, she evinces extreme 
distress and anxiety as to the fate of the lovely pilgrim, 
who has fallen into ruthless hands. 

The Princess is aroused from her sleep that night, by the 
arrival of a horseman, and Agostino Sarelli whom she rec- 
ognizes as the last of a fallen family of nobles, asks admission 
and brings the pale and almost lifeless body of Agnes within 
the hospitable portal and lays it upon a couch. He leads 
aside the lady whom he knows to be a daughter of the 
Colonnas, who were the companions of his family in misfor- 
tune, and hurriedly tells her how he has rescued Agnes of 
Sorrento from the very jaws of the monster. 

The Princess Paulina has that day learned that Agnes is 
her near kinswoman, a Capuchin monk having made a dy- 
ing confession to her, that he had united her brother in 
marriage to the daughter of old Elsie, years before. She 
had sent for Agnes only to find her gone, and welcomes with 
inexpressible joy, her rescuer and his train. Agnes recov- 
ers from the deadly shock which the terrible experience has 
given her, and as soon as preparations can be made, the 
Princess with her retainers join Sarelli's band and together 
they seek safety in his mountain retreat. The death of 
Savonarola takes place about this time, and shortly after, 
Father Antonio joins his friends at the fortress of Agostino 



318 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Sarelli. Princess Paulina acting for her family, quite ap- 
proves of Sarelli's suit for Agnes, and Father Antonio 
gives the maiden such excellent counsel that she accepts 
the knight, and the good monk unites them in marriage. 

"In the reign of Julius II., the banished families who had been 
plundered by the Borgias were restored to their rights and honors 
at Rome; and there was a princess of the house of Sarelli then at 
Rome, whose sanctity of life and manners was held to go back to 
the traditions of primitive Christianity, so that she was renowned 
not less for goodness than for rank and beauty." 



CHAPTER XY. 

"THE PEARL OF ORR'S ISLAND." SCENE AT HARPSWELL, 
MAINE, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 
LIFE UPON THE RUGGED NEW ENGLAND COAST. FLOTSAM 
AND JETSAM. EFFECT OF JEFFERSON'S EMBARGO OF 1807. 
THE CHARACTER OF MR. SEWELL BASED UPON THE PER- 
SONALITY OF JOHN P. BRACE. MRS. STOWE'S IMPROVE- 
MENT IN LITERARY STYLE. MRS. STOWE'S " REPLY " TO THE 
AFFECTIONATE AND CHRISTIAN ADDRESS OF THE WOMEN 
OF ENGLAND TO THE WOMEN OF AMERICA. DEATH OF DR. 
LYMAN BEECHER. MRS. STOWE'S ACCOUNT OF HIS MENTAL 
CONDITION. DYING AS AN OLD TREE DIES AT THE TOP 
FIRST. "SOJOURNER TRUTH— THE LIBYAN SIBYL." STORY'S 
STATUE, MATERIALIZED FROM MRS. STOWE'S DESCRIPTION 
OF THe' AFRICAN PRIESTESS. " HOUSE AND HOME PAPERS." 

During the latter part of the year 1860, Mrs. Stowe was 
engaged in writing a story which appeared in "The Inde- 
pendent." It was another serial, called " The Pearl of Orr's 
Island." It ran through the greater part of the year, being 
published at the same time, in London, in " Cassell's Illus- 
trated Family Paper." It was a story of singular pathos 
and beauty, representing life upon the rugged coast of Maine, 
ninety years ago, being located at Harpswell, about eight- 
een miles from the town of Brunswick, where Professor 
Stowe was settled when the first great book was written. 

So vividly does this tale picture the sad, yet attractive 
scenery of the eastern shore, with its descriptions of the 

O it' 



320 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

rocks and sands and pine forests, then growing almost to 
the water's edge, that one can smell the salt in the invig- 
orating breeze, can feel the heat of summer as it rises from 
the gleaming dunes and hear the lapping of waves upon 
the beach and the roll of the surf against the castellated 
rocks which bound the indented coast. 

Not alone do her pictures of sea and land transport the 
reader, but her delineations of the old time, purely character- 
istic, limited New England life, send a thrill of satisfaction 
and pleasure through the consciousness of the native reader, 
which amounts to ecstacy. This phase of American life, 
with the influx of summer visitors and the encroachments 
of travelers, is fast becoming merged into greater scope 
and culture, and losing its relation to the soil. Now that 
the good old fashion of New England life seems to have 
become a thing of the past, it is a frequent matter of regret 
that its records are so few. One of the greatest bequests 
to posterity left by Harriet Beech er Stowe is her reproduc- 
tion and preservation of the outward and spiritual life of 
the descendants of the Puritans. What was real of the 
Puritans, their staunch principles, their honesty, homely 
kindness and practical reason endures, and will endure as 
long as the history of the locality is preserved, and here- 
ditary tendencies influence American character. Their 
mistakes and severities drop unregretted into forgetfulness. 
Only loyal pride and the gratitude of those to whom these 
appear as sacred memories, are felt for the life and its de- 
lineator. 

By the magic of her graphic power, the reader finds him- 
self in the wagon which goes slowly along the sandy road 
below the town of Bath, towards " Orr's Island " 






UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 321 

and the Kennebec, which winds in view of the flashing 
water upon the coast of the State of Maine. He becomes 
instantly acquainted with the old man who holds the reins 
over the sedate horse, and admires the pure beauty of 
Naomi, who rides with her father, as they look out to sea, 
now roughened and angry after a day's storm, for the 
expected vessel which brings her husband home. 

He sees with them the incoming ship, the fatal mistake of 
the Captain who takes the narrow channel, and the terrible 
dashing of the vessel upon the cruel rocks, where it soon 
splits to pieces and goes down before their eyes ! 

This story of the homeward-bound ship going down in 
sight of home, with the sailors dressed in their holiday 
clothes in anticipation of soon greeting their sweethearts 
and wives, is founded upon fact, and is still told upon the 
coast, in many fishermen's homes. The narration of the 
washing ashore of the dead sailor lad who had been Naomi's 
husband, bedight in his best attire ; the view of the body 
in its dripping clothes in the darkened parlor of the plain 
old house, of the ghastly sound of the salt water, which 
drops from his dark hair upon the carpet ; the premature 
birth of the young widow's child; the death of Naomi; 
the grief of the stricken parents, the ceremonies of the 
funeral; presents a singularly sad but fascinating exam- 
ple of the inexorable cruelty and hardness of the sea, and 
the ungraceful lines in local personality and character, which 
seem as harsh, and unlovely. 

Zephaniah Pennel, " a chip of old Maine — thrifty, careful, 
shrewd, honest, God-fearing and carrying an instinctive 
knowledge of men and things under a face of rustic sim- 
plicity ;" his timid, affectionate wife ; Aunt Roxy and Aunt 
21 



322 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Ruev, the seamstresses and general factotums who received 
new-born infants into their capable arms, and presided over 
the last rites of the dead ; Captain Kittredge, dry and bent 
and full of imaginative sea stories and sly humor ; his stern 
disciplinarian, in the person of his black-eyed, fault-finding 
wife ; the dignified and scholarly minister, Mr. Sewell, and 
his inquisitive, chatty sister, are all native New England 
types, formed of the dry soil, bearing fruits of usefulness, 
but having no flowers of thought, no blossoms of culture, 
no hint of luxuriance in their grow r th. 

They are all as salutary, as invigorating, as the salt in 
the air, as weather beaten as the dark rocks, as ungraceful 
as the rough-barked trees, and the scrubby savin which 
grows upon the arid earth. And yet there is in this glimpse 
of life, a pleasure and a sort of pride which indeed may not 
obtain with children of warmer zones, or the rich Western 
country, but which braces and suits one who claims New 
England blood, as does the inhospitable brine of its waters, 
and the sad sighing of the wind through its strong pines. 

The child, who was named Mara according to the wish 
of the dying mother with whom the Almighty had dealt 
so bitterly, lived and grew into a winsome child, a delicate, 
fairy-like creature, who seemed so pure a thing in contrast 
from the rough, practical lives and aspects of the place, that 
they called her the Pearl of Orr's Island. 

When she was three years of age, there came another 
cruel wreck upon the immovable rocks of the iron-bound 
shore, and the body of a beautiful woman, with a living child, 
a handsome Spanish boy, clasped close in her rigid arms, was 
washed ashore. He was taken home by the Pennels and be- 
came the companion of little Mara, and the dashing, head- 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 323 

strong, erratic and manly hero of the story. The story of 
Mara's devotion to her adopted brother who was four years 
her elder, his boyish, easy acceptance of it, his selfish schemes 
and unknowing harshness to the little heart that so loved 
him, is a pathetic reproduction of what the author may 
have experienced with her bright, masterful brothers. It 
finds corroboration in the experience of many loving little 
women and an interesting literary counterpart in George 
Eliot's " Mill on the Floss," in the brave self-effacement of 
Maggie for love of her brother. 

The unrevealed romance which is indicated in the emo- 
tion of good Mr. Sewell, who recognizes in the body of the 
beautiful woman which floats ashore, one who has been 
much to him, and his subsequent care over her boy, affords 
an element of interest above his position as the tutor of 
young Moses and little Mara. An interest, foreign indeed 
to the artistic construction of the novel, but nevertheless 
existing, lies in the fact that this character is based upon 
the personality of John P. Brace, under whose wise and 
stimulating tuition, Harriet Beecher and her brothers studied 
together. Again the author lays herself open to the objec- 
tion of a champion (quite unneeded) of New England di- 
vines, by making Mr. Sewell a bachelor, but the novelist's 
license permits her making exceptions to the general rule 
which was, especially among ministers, of an early marriage. 

A pleasing element is introduced in the matter of fact 
and very refreshing person of Sally Kittredge, who was 
a childish companion of Mara and in later years ex- 
hibited some delicious coquetry with Master Moses 
Pennel. A salient point of the story is reached when 
Mara is about thirteen and her brother, then seventeen, 



324 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

falls into pernicious associations and is sadly misled and 
tempted, by certain bad men who are engaged in smug- 
gling. 

This locates the story at the time of Jefferson's em- 
bargo of 1807, which stopped at once the whole coast trade 
of New England, condemned her thousands of ships to rot 
at the wharves and ruined thousands of families. As 
an inevitable result of weak and unworthy legisla- 
tion and the prevalent feeling that Congress had usurped 
authority, in annihilating commerce, which it was only 
empowered to regulate, there was induced a contempt of 
law which had a strong influence, even in a community 
noted for its rigid morality and respect for the edicts of the 
government. Vessels were constantly fitted out which, in de- 
fiance of the law, ran to the West Indies and other ports 
and though the practice was punishable as smuggling, it 
found many sympathizers among citizens usually submis- 
sive to political authority. 

The practices which arose from this condition of things 
were of course, in the last degree demoralizing to the com- 
munity, and fatal to the integrity of a large class of bold, 
enterprising young men, who naturally turned to adven- 
ture and felt a reckless pride in a life which combined 
excitement with a partial justification, in the mind of the 
community. 

Moses Pennel, with his hot, dark Spanish blood, at an 
age when the restraints of home began to be irksome 
and the manly sense of right and honor had not quite as- 
serted itself, was an easy prey to the man Atkinson and his 
accomplices, with whom the lad indulged in many an orgie 
at night, by a lurid fire in the recesses of the rocks, eating 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 325 

and drinking, taking terrible oaths and planning dangerous 
projects. One night, Mara followed her brother and his dis- 
reputable acquaintances to their rendezvous, and crouching 
in the brush, heard things that froze her pure soul with 
horror and led her to confide her trouble to good Captain 
Kittredge who, while secretly sympathizing with the 
smugglers, and profiting pecuniarily by their trading in 
foreign ports, drew the line at their leading awaj' the 
adopted son of his friend. He induced Zephaniah Peunel 
to send Moses to China upon a long voyage. 

The author had boys of her own, the elder of whom 
was giving her deep anxiety, and in this description of the 
handsome, black haired boy with the restless temper and 
rebellion to the salutary restraints of his parents, one may 
read between the lines and feel the ache in the heart of the 
mother who penned them. 

The return of Moses, grown in three years into a hand- 
some man, his animated flirtation with lively Sally Kitt- 
redge, who was the bosom friend of Mara, are most natur- 
ally depicted. The realistic conversations and vivid triv- 
ialities of homely existence are drawn with a delicate 
touch which reminds one of the modern school of novel- 
ists who unfortunately do not always choose so worthy 
characters about which to group these details. 

Moses and Mara at last find their love for each other 
and are betrothed, but the marriage never takes place, for 
the "Pearl of Orr's Island " is too frail for life upon the harsh 
Eastern coast, and fades away into another sphere, just 
when life seems brightest and fullest of promise. Moses 
goes away to sea again, but after some years' absence comes 



326 THE LIFE WORK OP THE AUTHOR OF 

back, and finding Sally Kittredge, softened and grown into 
an attractive, capable womanhood, marries her. 

The plot is slight but smoothly finished and the hand of 
the trained writer is visible in its construction. The beauty 
and pathos of the story cannot be shown in an outline, but 
rather rest in the fine descriptions, character drawing and 
perceptions of the moving springs of the restricted lives, 
ninety years ago, upon the northeastern coast line of New 
England. It may be pertinent to notice here that while much 
of the early fervor and burning force of Mrs. Stowe's first 
writing had cooled, she had improved in no inconsiderable 
degree, in literary form. This in spite of the fact, that 
like her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, she was impa- 
tient of the slow methods of literary success. She was un- 
willing to remodel or polish her work, did not receive the 
suggestions of proof-readers or editors with gratitude, and 
is even accused of having shown resentment towards some 
of her most friendly and conscientious precautionary crit- 
ics. There can be no doubt however, that the high stand- 
ard of literary excellence demanded by her publishers, had 
a potent influence upon her style and method. 

Her slip-shod manner in writing was a sore trial to those 
who had the supervision of its publication, and to quote 
one who has seen many of her original manuscripts, " she 
was one of the most careless and inaccurate writers exist- 
ing. Her faults were deep, structural, going to the founda- 
tions of grammar, and she seldom punctuated except by 
dashes which might signify anything or nothing." 

The critic's task was no sinecure, for the rush of her 
thoughts precluded studied effects, and a certain disregard 
for artistic method, which has been shown in various in- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 327 

stances, prevented the revision and re-toucliing which is 
necessary to finished work. But she was " born under 
epistolary stars," and though perhaps not in literary style, 
the "Pellucido" whom good Dr. Watts so finely describes, 
her thoughts were positive, and easily understood. They 
were put with, a homely force which obtained an instant 
hearing and lodged them in the readers' minds. It is sig- 
nificant that one always seizes upon the thought first, and it 
is only afterwards, if he be of a critical spirit, that he depre- 
cates some faults in style. She was acknowledged to be 
one of the three greatest women novelists — being classed 
with Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot — and America's 
greatest literary woman. Greatest as a creator of dramatic 
scenes, greatest in value of literary work done, and incom- 
parably so in results achieved. But one must admit that 
personal characteristics, such as impetuosity, disregard of 
modifying causes, and careful and mature revision of her 
work, while giving us something of greater worth than 
mere artistic finish, prevented her from being the best 
writer. She was a great genius, which is quite a different 
thing. Correctness of style would not have made " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," would not have created the animus of " The 
Minister's Wooing." But how marvellous a figure in lit- 
erary history would Harriet Beecher Stowe have been, 
could she also have been cited as a model of writing, like 
Thackeray, Irving, or Lydia Maria Child! 

The "Pearl of Orr's Island" was published in book form 
in 1862 by Ticknor & Fields,who had succeeded to Phillips, 
Sampson & Company. They published about the same 
time, June, 1862, "Agnes of Sorrento," which had been 
running in the Atlantic from May, 1861, to April, 1865. 



328 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

When the war had been raging more than a year and a 
half, and Americans began to realize that the issue was 
serious beyond anything that had at first appeared to the 
conflicting parties, when there came calls for more men, 
when the three months' volunteers and the nine months' 
men had returned or re-enlisted for " three years or the 
war," when our country was seen by the interested and 
sympathetic circle of foreign nations to be in mortal dan- 
ger, then the women of the United States came to the 
front. They put away their tears and trembling, they 
wrote brave letters to the u boys " at the seat of war, they 
crushed down their agony at sight of their dear dead, and 
sent husbands and brothers out to battle, with their bles- 
sing. 

They became a great moral support, as well as the min- 
istering angels at hospital beds. Their tongues and pens 
urged the buying of American products that our crippled 
industries should be supported ; the wearing of American 
goods that our spindles might be kept whirring even while 
the pangs of intestine war threatened to cramp every trade. 
True, the women of America came slowly up to the level 
of the time. It was not strange. They had little of the 
excitement, the enthusiasm which comes from action. They 
could only think with terrible fear of the loss of their 
brave supporters. They had still to learn the trying les- 
son that " They also serve, who only stand and wait." 

But in the cutting and making of coats and garments, in 
the knitting of stockings and mittens, in the shredding of 
lint and the tearing and rolling of bandages, they came 
through their first paralyzing timidity, into heroism, into 
a fire of clear, steady burning patriotism which went forth 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 329 

in inspiriting currents from every home, from every farm 
house and mansion and tenement room, in all the land 
where there was a good woman. They could not finish 
the war with their needles, nor nurse back into peace the 
burning enmity of fighting brothers; but they could and 
did exert an intellectual and spiritual influence which was 
a powerful factor in events. 

With many other Northerners who had rejoiced in the 
sympathy and support of the English people in the anti- 
slavery movement, Mrs. Stowe saw with almost overpow- 
ering surprise, that the sympathy and support of England 
was now, in the most trying hour, given to the slave-hold- 
ers, to the South who had fired the first gun, and main- 
tained its fusilade with the fierce determination to perpet- 
uate and extend slavery and — raise cotton. It was indeed 
difficult to believe that commercial interests could in Eng- 
land, act as they had for so many years in this country, and 
rise above and stifle right and justice ! 

Harriet Beecher Stowe read and re-read the " Affection- 
ate and Christian Address of Many Thousands of Women 
of Great Britain and Ireland to their Sisters, the Women 
of the United States of America," saw their preamble, 
which contained glad confession of a common origin, a 
common faith and a common cause, read their urgent 
appeal to American women to exert their influence for the 
speedy abolition of slavery, their reference to " God's own 
law," their confession of complicity in the introduction of 
slavery into American shores, and their entreaty to Amer- 
ican women to wipe away "our common crime and our 
common dishonor." 

She thought of the great meeting at Stafford House, not 



330 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ten years before, and held in her hand the bracelet of links 
of massive gold, which the most beautiful Duchess in Eng- 
land had clasped upon her wrist, with the fervent wish that 
the American author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" might soon 
be able to inscribe upon its remaining links the date of 
American abolition. She turned over the leaves of the great 
testimonial, holding nearly six hundred thousand names, 
a most curious collection, commencing at the very steps of 
the throne, numbering thousands of titled names in every 
style of autograph, and running way through the ranks of 
the intelligent people wherever Britain ruled, and also from 
Paris to Jerusalem, covering an area vaster than any over 
which any similar document had ever spread. She felt 
irresistibly moved to make a counter appeal to them, in 
the hour of America's need — in the hour when it became 
apparent that slavery was the issue of the war, and the re- 
public could only be maintained by making every man 
free. 

Her "Reply," which was dated Nov. 27th, 1862, at 
Washington, D. C, whither she had gone to attend the 
solemn religious festival which took place there on Thanks- 
giving Day, and was celebrated by more than a thousand 
slaves, recently emancipated by Lincoln's proclamation, 
was addressed to a score or more of the distinguished 
women who had signed the great English testimonial. They 
were Anna Maria Bedford (Duchess of Bedford); Olivia 
Cecilia Cowley (Countess Cowley) ; Constance Grosvenor 
(Countess Grosvenor); Harriet Sutherland (Duchess of 
Sutherland) ; Elizabeth Argyle (Duchess of Argyle) , 
Elizabeth Fortesque (Countess Fortesque) ; Emily Shaftes- 
bury, (Countess of Shaftesbury) ; Mary Euthvan, (Baron- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 331 

ess Buthvan) ; M. A. Milman (Wife of Dean of St. 
Paul's); E Buxton (Daughter of Sir Thomas Fowell Bux- 
ton) ; Caroline Amelia Owen (Wife of Professor Owen) ; 
Mrs. Charles Windham, C. A. Hatherton (Baroness Hath- 
erton) ; Elizabeth Ducie (Countess Dowager of Ducie) ; 
Cecilia Parke (Wife of Baron Parke) ; Mary Ann Challis 
(Wife of the Lord Mayor of London) ; E. Gordon (Duchess 
Dowager of Gordon) ; Anna M. L. Melville (Daughter of 
Earl of Leven and Melville); Georgiana Ebrington (Lady 
Ebrington); A. Hill (Viscountess Hill) ; Mrs. Cobat( Wife 
of Bishop Cobat of Jerusalem) ; E. Palmerston (Viscountess 
Palmerston), and others. 

Our great woman began her "Beply" by quoting to the 
women of Great Britain their "Affectionate and Christian 
Address" of nine years before. Every sentence of which 
was an intense reflection upon the position of England, 
towards the people who were then giving their heart's 
blood to free the slave. 

Mrs. Stowe replied that it had been impossible to send an 
answer at all like in kind to the "Address," as the people 
who welcomed it were scattered over vast territories, and, 
possessed of the spirit which led to the efficient action then 
going on, had no time for it. All their time and energies 
were already absorbed in direct efforts to remove the great 
evil, and their answer, had been the silent continuance of 
those efforts. The South, had received the address with 
frantic irritation, and unsparing abuse of an act which 
brought the united weight of the British aristocracy and 
commonalty, upon the most diseased and sensitive part of 
our national life. Mrs. Stowe continued — 



332 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

"The time has come however, when such an astonishing page 
has been turned in the anti-slavery history in America, that the 
women of our country, feeling that the great anti-slavery work to 
which their English sisters exhorted them is almost done, may 
properly and naturally feel moved to reply to their appeal, and 
lay before them the history of what has occurred since the receipt 
of their affectionate and Christian Address." 

Then follows a succinct, and in many ways remarkable 
history of the United States, from the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise to the date of her writing. It states 
clearly with an eye single to the vital points, the situation 
of the North and South in the war, with the political and 
moral issues at stake. Then comes a moving appeal to 
her friends in England, the women who by thousands wel- 
comed her, as the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " — as the 
representative of a feeling, which was now the active prin- 
ciple of the North. 

"And now, Sisters of England, in this solemn, expectant hour 
let us speak to you of one thing which fills our hearts with pain 
and solicitude. It is an unaccountable fact, and one which we 
entreat you seriously to ponder, that the party which has brought 
the cause of Freedom thus far on its way, during the past event, 
ful year has found little or no support in England. Sadder than 
this, the party which makes Slavery the chief corner-stone of its 
edifice finds in England its strongest defenders." 

The rest of this remarkable document cannot here be re- 
produced. It is a masterly grasp of the complicated situa- 
tion, and an arraignment of the English people, which, 
might well have made them blush, for their inconsistency. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 333 

Thus does Mrs. Stowe close one of the most remarkable 
manifestoes in history : 

" And now, Sisters of England, think it not strange if we 
bring back the words of your letter, not in bitterness, but in deep- 
est sadness and lay them at your door. We say to you — Sisters, 
you have spoken well ; we have heard you ; we have heeded ; we 
have striven in the cause even unto death. We have sealed our 
devotion by desolate hearths and darkened homesteads : by the 
blood of sons, husbands and brothers. In many of our dwellings 
the very light of our lives has gone out ; and yet we accept the 
life-long darkness as our own part in this great and awful expia- 
tion, by which the bonds of wickedness shall be loosed and abid- 
ing peace established on the foundation of righteousness. Sisters, 
what have you done, and what do you mean to do ? 

In view of the decline of the noble anti-slavery tire in England ; 
in view of all facts and admissions recited from your own papers, 
we beg leave in solemn sadness to return to you your own words 
— 'A common origin, a common faith, and, we believe, a common 
<3ause, urge us at the present moment, to address you on the sub- 
ject of that fearful encouragement and support which is being 
afforded by England to a slave-holding Confederacy. 

We will not dwell on the ordinary topics — on the progress of 
civilization, on the advance of freedom everywhere, and the rights 
and requirements of the nineteenth century ; but we appeal to you 
very seriously, to reflect and to ask counsel of God how far such a 
state of things is in accordance with his Holy Word, the inalien- 
able rights of immortal souls and the pure and merciful spirit of 
the Christian religion. 

We appeal to you as sisters, as wives and mothers, to raise your 
voices to your fellow citizens and your prayers to God for the 
removal of this affliction and disgrace from the Christian world. 
In behalf of many thousands of American women, 

Harriet Beecher Stowe." 



334 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

This was indeed a prompt and pointed " retort court- 
eous " though given with the solemn earnestness and spirit 
of forbearing kindness which always actuated the great 
woman. It was not only a "reply," it was an appeal for 
aid, freighted with the accumulated suffering and fears of 
the whole woman heart of America. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe never spoke nor wrote for mere verbal effect, she 
was the one who could voice the deepest feelings of the 
nation, the grief and surprise, with which the whole people 
saw that the mother country was false to her faith, appear- 
ing, after all, to be a mercenary old dame, who in spite of 
her better impulses, kept always an eye to her own advan- 
tage. This article appearing January, 1863, naturally made 
a profound impression upon its readers, stimulating and en- 
couraging Mrs.Stowe's compatriots, and wringing the withers 
of the English sympathizers with the "independence" of 
American Southerners, in a most uncomfortable fashion. 
To the active, enthusiastic, successful and regenerated 
people of " The New South " her prediction may now be 
repeated with cordial congratulation. 

" Mark our works ! If we succeed, the children of these very 
men who are now fighting us, will rise up and call us blessed. Just 
as surely as there is a God who governs in the world, so surely all 
the laws of national prosperity follow in the train of equity ; and if 
we succeed, we shall have delivered the children's children of our 
misguided brethren from the wages of sin, which is always and 
everywhere, death." 

" The reply " was published in the Atlantic Monthly and 
in Macmillan's (London) Magazine, afterwards in book form 
by Sampson, Low & Co., who sold some six thousand 
copies. 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 335 

On the 10th day of January, 1863, Dr. Lyman Beecher 
passed out of this existence, in his 88th year. The last 
four years of his life had been shadowed as by a veil 
which was continually drawn closer about his mental 
faculties. His memory, particularly the retention of dates 
and names, even those of his most cherished friends, utterly 
failed and the last year of his life all the organs of com- 
munication and expression with the outer world seemed to 
fail. From the last pages of his autobiography we select a 
paragraph written by Mrs Stowe, who spent as much time 
as possible assisting her step-mother to care for him, — 

" His utterances were, much of the time, unintelligible sounds, 
with only short snatches and phrases from which could be gathered 
that the internal current still flowed. Still his eye remained lu- 
minous and the expression of his face, when calm, was marked 
both by strength and sweetness. Occasionally a flash of his old 
quick humor would light up his face, and a quick reply would 
break out in the most unexpected manner. One day, as he lay on 
the sofa, his daughter, Mrs. Stowe, stood by him brushing his long 
white hair ; his eyes were fixed on the window, and the whole ex- 
pression of his face was peculiarly serene and humorous. ' Do you 
know,* she said, stroking his hair, 'that you are a very handsome 
old gentleman? ' Instantly his eyes twinkled with a roguish light, 
and he answered quickly, 4 Tell me something new.' " 

The description of his mental condition is peculiarly sig- 
nificant in view of the similar affliction which overtook his 
illustrious daughter in } declining days. It seemed to be 
ordained that several of his family should die as he did, as 
did Emerson and Alcott, showing decay, as do old trees, at 
the top first. 



336 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

In April, 1863 Mrs. Stowe published an article in the 
Atlantic Monthly entitled "Sojourner Truth, The Libyan 
Sibyl." It was a description of the strange and very inter- 
esting person, a powerful and wildly eloquent African 
woman who had been known in the early years of Aboli- 
tionism as a frequent and impressive speaker at anti-slavery 
meetings in the northern states, from one to another of 
which she traveled as a self-appointed agency. She was a 
full blooded African, possessed of that silent and subtle 
power which is called personal presence, tall and strong, 
even majestic in her carriage, and strikingly terse and 
pointed in her speech. 

She called upon Mrs. Stowe at a time when her house at 
Andover was occupied by several visiting clergyman of dis- 
tinction, among whom was Dr. Edward Beech er and Pro- 
fessor Allen, and the account of her appearance and conver- 
sation furnishes a strong picture of a peculiar character; a 
striking example of the notable outgrowths of a down-trod- 
den race ; a personage whose barbaric eloquence might have 
proved, with the same culture, as immortal as the words of 
St. Augustine or Tertullian. So impressed was Mrs. Stowe 
with the history* and personality of the woman, that during 
a breakfast in her honor given by Story the American 
sculptor, at Eome, she gave a vivid representation of So- 
journer. The sculptor whose mind had begun to turn upon 
Egypt, in search of a type of art which should represent a 
larger and more vigorous development of nature than 
the cold elegance of the Greek lines was strongly impressed 
with the subject, and conceived the idea of a statue which 
should be called " The Libyan Sibyl.' , He was, however, 
then dwelling on the " Cleopatra," bringing into mental form 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 337 

the broadly developed nature, the slumbering passion, with 
which that statue is surcharged. But two years later, in 
another interview with Mrs. Stowe, he told her that his con- 
ception of "The Libyan Sibyl " had never left him, and a day 
or two later showed her his plaster model. The inspiration 
which came to him taking shape in the glorious form of the 
Sibyl, was received from the graphic language of the 
author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

It was made and formed one of the loftiest and most origi- 
nal works of modern art, and became one of the most im- 
pressive figures at the World's Exhibition in London. This 
work should not be confounded with the fresco decoration 
of the Sistine Chapel in Rome upon which Michael Angelo's 
Sibyls are the worthy companions of the Biblical Prophets. 
These are, the aged Pythoness of Cumae, and her of Persia 
who reads so earnestly, and the Sibyl of Lybia, who holds 
up an immense volume whose pages rise and wave in the air 
like wings. The figure of Michael Angelo's Sibyl bears a 
marked resemblance to a piece of statuary, the painter hav- 
ing been, up to the time when he undertook the Sistine 
decoration, an artist in sculpture only. 

Story, the modern artist, who narrowly escaped being a 
poet, doubtless received a suggestion from this, for his orig- 
inal and striking work. Story's attitude is equally strong 
and original. The legs of his Sibyl are crossed, chin resting 
upon hand, elbow on knee, looking across the desert into a 
weird, unimaginable future. It is a fitting monument of 
the graphic power of Mrs. Stowe, who saw her mental im- 
pression materialized in marble through the hand of an- 
other. 

22 



338 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Professor Stowe having resigned his chair at Andover 
Theological Seminary in 1864, the family moved to Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. Mrs. Stowe built a commodious, and 
attractive house, in the western suburbs of that city, which 
is still to be seen, considerably neglected and run down, in 
what has become an unfashionable quarter upon the edge 
of Glenwood. 

In 1864 Mrs. Stowe commenced in the Atlantic a series 
of papers, beginning with" The Eavages of a Carpet," which 
continued for twelve months. They were afterwards col- 
lected under the title of " House and Home Papers," their 
authorship being thinly disguised under the nom de plume 
" Christopher Crowfield." Mrs. Stowe's object in taking this 
synonym was, obviously, that she might write from the 
standpoint of the masculine head of a family, being thereby 
enabled to introduce many observations, which could not so 
pertinently emanate from a woman's pen. These essays 
were in a vein quite new to the famous author, and attracted 
close attention from thousands of readers to whom their 
topics were of vital and present interest. They touched 
upon the dearest sanctities of home, and brought the best 
thoughts of life to centre about the fireplace and reading 
table of every household. There was in them, the literary 
flavor of the " Autocrat " who had chatted so delightfully 
at the " Breakfast Table," the rare grace and fine humor of 
the writer of the " Back Log Studies," who followed some- 
what later, and above and illuminating all, the sweetness 
of domestic love and home enjoyment. 

How much they did to centralize and intensify the some- 
times lax devotion of indifferent and stern New Englanders 
about the hearthstone, can not be estimated. Every reader 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 339 

must feel a heart glow, and pure pleasure and desire quicken 
within him, at their perusal, and even now when the public 
mind has turned more upon the " house beautiful " and the 
amenities of family living, they lose nothing of their inher- 
ent charm. 

11 The Ravages of a Carpet" is an amusing and " o'er true 
tale," of how a new carpet, which was incongruous in style 
and richness with the household furniture, succeeded in 
setting all things at heads and points, in the Crowfield home 
and, in the temporary aberration which permitted the 
women of the family to seek more after fashion than com- 
fort, almost alienated the domestic fairies of simplicity, 
good cheer and serene content. It is written from the real 
masculine standpoint, and while holding much of truth, is 
cleverly held open to the feminine objections of the wife and 
daughters, which are promptly introduced by those char- 
acters. 

" House- Keeping vs. Home- Making" illustrates Benjamin 
Franklin's proverb, u Silks and satins put out the kitchen 
fire," showing how the prim luxuries of housekeeping and 
a vain-glorious regard for the circumstance of daily living, 
have often extinguished the infinitely more sacred flame of 
domestic love — a lesson by the way, still to be learned, by 
many a modern housekeeper of more thrift than culture. 

11 What is a Home and How to Keep it" sets forth the 
evident fact that a dwelling owned or rented by a man, in 
which his own wife keeps house, is not always, or of course, 
a home. In this essay which is replete in every paragraph 
with valuable suggestions, Christopher Crowfield depre- 
cates purchasing things too fine for use, too choice for com- 
fort and liberty. He advises against articles which must 



340 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

be shrouded from light and dust, or used with fear and 
trembling because their cost is above the general level of 
one's means, and they cannot easily be replaced. He hu- 
morously, and with a pathos which will be felt by hundreds 
of readers who have passed through a similar, trying child- 
ish experience, describes the anguish of his boyhood, when 
houses, furniture, scrubbed floors, white curtains and bright 
tins and brasses were made to seem the permanent facts 
of existence, and men and women, and particularly boys, 
meddlesome intruders upon divine order. How many lit- 
tle human beings have at some time experienced the same 
reversal of the essentials of life, through the distorted judg- 
ment and limited view of sundry human authorities who 
represented the powers that be. 

" The Economy of the Beautiful" is a delightful discus- 
sion of the true utility of beautiful things in the domestic 
environment. The author advocates most satisfactorily the 
advantage of sparing expense upon so called " decorations," 
by which wall papers, window draperies, carpets and up- 
holstery have come to be designated, and becoming pos- 
sessed of them in their richest form, of statues, pictures and 
vases, even though they be no more than correct models or 
good copies, of celebrated works. She pertinently says, — 

" No child is ever stimulated to draw or to read by an Axmin- 
ster carpet or a carved centre table, but a room surrounded by 
photographs and pictures and fine casts, suggests a thousand in- 
quiries. The child is found with a pencil drawing, or he asks 
for a book on Venice, or wants to hear the history of the Roman 
Forum. 

This essay is well worth the careful consideration of 
every family who are making a home. 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 3-il 

» Baking up the Fire," brings to the imagination a vivid 
picture of comfort, affectionate confidence and intelligent 
pre-somnolent chit-chat, which warms the heart and makes 
the group around the dying embers, real people to us all. 
It is a rare season, with genial Christopher Cfowfield in the 
middle of the half circle, his wife busy with her work bas- 
ket at a table near by, and Jennie and Marianne and Bob 
Stephens the prospective son-in-law, gathered about the 
faintly glowing embers. They talk of many things, es- 
thetic, theological and scientific, always bringing the themes 
home, making them personal and dear, never talking or 
thinking at other people, but only of what concerns them 
all, and us, and every one. House furnishing, flower rais- 
in* book shelves and china, come into the rambling talk 
which is characteristic of the hour, making one of the most 
charming of the many delightful papers in the series. 

» The Lady who does her oxvn Work " is an essay which carries 
with it a flavor which is purely American, a suggestion of 
conditions only possible to the life of the mass of intelligent 
people of the United States, and a form which is so dis- 
tinctly indigenous to the soil of New England that a for- 
eigner who would laugh at the title, might well be consid- 
erably confused at the matter of the piece. It is a pleasant 
and respectful handling of a theme upon which the writer 
evidently dwells with pride. That one can do her own 
work and be a lady ; that American women can successfully 
perform the duties of household work, saving their hands 
by the use of their brains, by their good judgment and men- 
tal acumen turning drudgery into honorable labor, which is 
so deftly performed as to be graceful and in every way dig- 
nified is a fact which Christopher Crowfield declares with a 



342 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

glow of personal gratification. It is possible that this 
sketch will not now be so generally appreciated as in the 
earlier days when many, even most, American women were 
capable of directing their servants and if necessary, per- 
forming the duties of cook or housemaid with dignity and 
self respect. 

While these papers were appearing, the echoes of the 
bitter and bloody war now long drawn out and raging more 
fiercely than ever, came to the hearthstones of every home, 
and Christopher Crowfield who watched the times with 
deep anxiety, saw an opportunity to again write upon a 
topic of political interest. 

" Wliat can be got in America" is a patriotic appeal to 
American women who could labor so effectively in Sanitary 
Fairs, and minister so tenderly to the wounded soldiers in 
hundreds of army hospitals, to be as thoughtful and con- 
sistent, in all things affecting the prosperity of our stricken 
country, and to strengthen its industries by buying, eating, 
and wearing, American productions. 

It may be mentioned as it is a custom, now for obvious 
reasons unpermissible, that this, as well as other of these 
papers, contains various easy and undisguised references to 
mercantile houses in Boston, which evoke a certain mercen- 
ary wonder, even excite a momentary suspicion in the mind 
of the practical reader. This, however unworthy, may 
"be excused as it is born of the adroit advertising of the 
present decade, and the machinations of writers who "get 
pay at both ends of an article." Perhaps it will be remem- 
bered how Mr. Howells astonished the more suspicious 
readers of the country, by his graceful unconsciousness of 
unwritten literary rules which forbid such localizing of 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 343 

purchases made, and set many drawing-rooms buzzing with 
discussions as to whether certain Boston firms, to whom he 
pointed by name when his heroines wanted dinner dresses 
and small accessories, had subsidized him ; how he came to 
do it if they had not done so; and whether his editors 
would "stand it." 

These questionings were, of course, outside of the athenic 
atmosphere where even authors seem to love the very 
names of the local business houses. It is superfluous to say 
that Mrs. Stowe's article, upon which many modern mercen- 
ary efforts have apparently been formed, was as purely 
honest and disinterested as were all her utterances, written 
or spoken. She had created her own prerogative to plain 
speaking, and saw no reason to repress her approval, even 
though it might pecuniarily benefit certain tradesmen. Was 
not the country dependant upon individuals, and never in 
so dire need of the welfare and success of the mass of the 
people ? 

" Economy " is a clear and forcible presentation of the 
essentials of life, a sensible valuation of the things worth 
having and the duty of every one to live according to the 
best use of his income, be it great or small. The ideas are 
more than usually broad and comprehensive, and the essay 
of permanent value, especially to Americans, who, on ac- 
count of their feeling of unlimited possibilities in station, in 
culture, and style, are prone to outlays which, quite permis- 
sible in a millionaire, are so often the ruin of a poor clerk. 

The paper upon " Servants" is an article which should 
be digested by every American housekeeper. It unites in 
a rare degree, a sense of justice to both parties, those who 
are too often opposed in our domestic economy ; an under- 



344 THE LIFE WORK OF TPIE AUTHOR OF 

derstanding of the limitations which our political system 
impose upon any arbitrary power on the part of employers; 
and a Christian feeling towards, and a generous appreciation 
of, the good qualities of servants, which is unfortunately 
uncommon even to this day. In this, as in all other sub- 
jects she has treated, Mrs. Stovve seems to have absorbed 
and assimilated all the good ideas in existence, and to have 
them set forth with lucidity and great power. Those who 
in this generation have given some thought to the ethics of 
"servant-girlism" and perhaps written what they believed 
to be fresh matter, are surprised to find that Mrs. Stowe 
had thought and said it all, and much more, years ago. 

Christopher Crowfield, who maintains very successfully 
his masculine attitude toward the order of things in a 
home, begins his paper on " Cookery" with apologies and 
acknowledgments to Mrs. Crowfield which are quite proper, 
as it soon becomes apparent that the intelligent and dis- 
criminating disquisition on the preparation and serving of 
bread, butter, meat, vegetables and tea which are consid- 
ered as the essentials of a healthful regimen, could have 
emanated from none but a practical housekeeper's mind. 

"Still the wonder grows" upon the modern reader who 
takes up a volume of these "House and Home Papers " 
and reads the thoughts of Christopher Crowfield upon "Our 
House.' 1 They are full of rich suggestions for beauty, com- 
fort and health. The author's ideas upon ventilation, 
heating and bathing conveniences, all of which combine 
utility and aesthetic charm, are set forth with wonderful 
taste and perspicacity. Christopher Crowfield, recommend- 
ed light and air, when they were not so fashionable as to- 
day. He advocated the use of native woods, left in their 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 345 

natural beauty of grain and coloring, at an epoch when all 
interiors were adorned with white paint. He dared to 
speak for conservatories, and open windows, and clear 
lawns, when all New England was grown up with shrub- 
bery even to the front door steps; when flies dominated 
good taste and enjoyment of nature, being the tiny black 
beasts who stood in the way of light, airy apartments, and 
sunlight and picturesque outlooks. People at large have 
been almost a quarter of a century educating up to the 
author of " House and Home Papers " in these things. 

The last of the articles, is upon the tender and vital themes 
grouped under the head of " Home Reliyion." Probably 
no better statement of Harriet Beecher's Stowe's religious 
habit could be given than Christopher Crowfield describes 
in his wife when he says, 

" My wife is a steady, Bible-reading, Sabbath-keeping woman, 
cherishing the memory of her fathers and loving to do as they did 
— believing for the most part, that the paths beaten by righteous 
feet are best and safest, even though much walking therein has 
worn away the grass and flowers. Nevertheless, she has an 
indulgent ear for all that gives promise of bettering anybody or 
anything, and therefore is not severe on any new methods that 
may arise in our progressive days of accomplishing all such 
objects." 

The wide awake son-in-law Bob Stephens, whom Mrs. 
Crowfield calls Robert, on Sunday evenings, is the advocate 
for the innovations which have crept in, making the mod- 
ern Sabbath entirely different from the over-strictness and 
wearisome restraints which caused the Puritan Sabbath to 
be a day of suffering to many good people. The question 
being reasonably raised, is well answered by Mr. Crowfield 



346 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

and Lis wife, to whom, not strangely perhaps, the author im- 
putes much excellent sense and tactful right feeling. Sab- 
bath keeping in all its vexed phases is thoroughly discussed^ 
and in this conversation may be found the only answer to 
the discussions of the desirability of throwing off the good 
old ways, for the looseness of European Sunday life. To 
treat home religion and Sabbath keeping with fair mind- 
edness and an unbiased desire for the best results, has in- 
deed seemed as impossible, as to conduct arguments upon 
the political welfare of the nation with calmness and broth- 
erly love ; but those who need truth well presented, for sup- 
port to their unexpressible convictions, will find most ad- 
mirable and considerate arguments in this article. It ap- 
pears that there can be no other answer to the questions so 
often raised. And so upon this Sunday night, after the 
singing of good old hymns and the talking over the autumn 
fire, upon topics so good to dwell upon, we part with the 
Crowfields, not, however, without a strong desire to know 
them better. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

SEVEN ESSAYS, CALLED " LITTLE FOXES " — MRS. STOWE'S CON- 
TINUED CONNECTION WITH THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY — 
"THE CHIMNEY CORNER" PAPERS — MRS. STOWE'S IDEAS 
UPON THE WOMAN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT — ARTICLES OF 
SPECIAL INTEREST TO HER SEX UPON TOPICS RANGING 
FROM SUFFRAGE TO HOME DUTIES — ACCOMPLISHMENT OF 
THE EMANCIPATION OF AMERICAN SLAVES — MRS. STOWE 
TAKES THE BRACELET OF MASSIVE GOLD LINKS AND HAS IT 
INSCRIBED WITH THE DATES OF ABOLITION IN THE UNITED 
STATES — RENEWED INTEREST IN UNCLE TOM'S CABIN — 
MRS. STOWE BESIEGED BY CELEBRITY HUNTERS— THE WO- 
MAN AS SHE APPEARED TO STRANGERS — AN EPISODE AT 
A SUMMER RESORT — " OUR YOUNG FOLKS," A NEW MAG- 
AZINE WITH MRS. STOWE AS ITS MOST FAMOUS CONTRI- 
BUTOR. 

In 1864 there appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, a series 
of essays by Mrs. Stowe, written under the now transparent 
pseudonym of Christopher Crowfield, called " Little Foxes/ 
They were seven papers upon the insignificant little habits 
which mar domestic happiness. The author selects "Fault- 
finding, Irritability, Repression, Persistence, Intolerance, 
Discourtesy and Exactingness, of a verity, a company of 
seemingly small sins, which in family and social life often 
become furies more dangerous to peace than the daughters 
of Hecate, with their many heads and serpentine hair. Of 

347 



348 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Faultfinding let us quote a paragraph from the midst of 
the essay: 

" Saddest of all sad things, is it to see two once very dear 
friends, employing all that peculiar knowledge of each other which 
love had given them only to harass and provoke, — thrusting and 
piercing with a certainty of aim that only past habits of confidence 
and affection could have put in their power, wounding their own 
hearts with every deadly thrust they make at one another, and 
all for such inexpressibly miserable trifles as usually form the 
openings of fault-finding dramas. 

" For the contentions that loosen the very foundations of love, 
that crumble away all its fine traceries and carved work, about 
what miserable, worthless things do they commonly begin ! — a 
dinner underdone, too much oil consumed, a newspaper torn, a 
waste of coal or soap, a dish broken ! — and for this miserable sort 
of trash, very good, very generous, very religious people will some- 
times waste and throw away by double-handfuls the very thing for 
which houses are built and coal burned, and all the parapher- 
nalia of a home established, — their happiness. Better cold coffee, 
smoky tea, burnt meat, better any inconvenience, any loss, than 
a loss of love ; and nothing so surely burns away love as constant 
fault-finding. " 

"There is fretfulness, a mizzling, drizzling rain of discomforting 
remark ; there is grumbling, a northeast storm that never clears ; 
there is scolding, the thunder storm with lightning and hail. All 
these are worse than useless ; they are positive sins, by whomso- 
ever indulged, — sins as great and real as many that are shuddered 
at in polite society.' ' 

Genial Christopher Crowfield after a most amusing des- 
cription of one of his own bad half hours, says of Irritability : 

" Irritability is, more than most unlovely states, a sin of the 
flesh. It is not, like envy, malice, spite, revenge, a vice which 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 349 

we may suppose to belong equally to an embodied or a disem- 
bodied spirit. In fact, it comes nearer to being physical depravi- 
ty than anything I know of. There are some bodily states, some 
conditions of the nerves such that we could not conceive of even 
an angelic spirit confined in a body thus disordered as being able 
to do any more than simply endure. It is a state of nervous tor- 
ture ; and the attacks which the wretched victim makes on others 
are as much a result of disease as the snapping and biting of a 
patient convulsed with hydrophobia." 

And again offers valuable advice for the control of the 
moody state of mind : 

" There is a temperament called the HYPOCHONDRIAC, to 
which many persons, some of them the brightest, the most inter- 
esting, the most gifted, are born heirs, — a want of balance of the 
nervous powers, which tends constantly to periods of high excite- 
ment and of consequent depression, — an unfortunate inheritance 
for the possessor, though accompanied often with the greatest tal- 
ents. Sometimes, too, it is the unfortunate lot of those who 
have not talents, who bear its burdens and its anguish without its 
rewards. 

" People of this temperament are subject to fits of gloom and 
despondency, of nervous irritability and suffering, which darken 
the aspect of the whole world to them, which present lying re- 
ports of their friends, of themselves, of the circumstances of their 
life, and of all with which they have to do. 

" Now the highest philosophy for persons thus afflicted is to 
understand themselves and their tendencies, to know that these fits 
of gloom and depression are just as much a form of disease as a 
fever or a toothache, to know that it is the peculiarity of the dis- 
ease to fill the mind with wretched illusions, to make them seem 
miserable and unlovely to themselves, to make their nearest friends 
seem unjust and unkind, to make all events to appear to be going 
wrong and tending to destruction and ruin. 



350 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

" The evils and burdens of such a temperament are half re- 
moved when a man once knows that he has it and recognizes it for 
a disease, and when he does not trust himself to speak and act in 
these bitter hours as if there were any truth in what lie thinks and 
feels and sees. He who has not attained to this wisdom over- 
whelms his friends and his family with the waters of bitterness ; 
he stings with unjust accusations, and makes his fireside dreadful 
with fancies which are real to him, but false as the ravings of 
fever. 

" A sensible person, thus diseased, who has found out what ails 
him, will shut his mouth resolutely, not to give utterance to the 
dark thoughts that infest his soul." 

After telling a story which characterized the social life 
of the last generation, and still obtains in many of the 
natures which have the inherent shyness with regard to 
amenities, which they are far from exhibiting when un- 
pleasant truth is concerned, Christopher Crowfield says : 

" And now for the moral, — and that is, that life consists of two 
parts, Expression and Repression, — each of which has its solemn 
duties. To love, joy, hope, faith, pity, belongs the duty of ex- 
pression : to anger, envy, malice, revenge, and all uncharitable- 
ness, belongs the duty of repression. 

" Some very religious and moral people err by applying repres- 
sion to both classes alike. They repress equally the expression of 
love and of hatred, of pity and of anger. Such forget one great 
law, as true in the moral world as in the physical, — that repres- 
sion lessens and deadens. Twice or thrice mowing will kill off 
the sturdiest crop of weeds ; the roots die for want of expression. 
A compress on a limb will stop its growing ; the surgeon knows 
this, and puts a tight bandage around a tumor, but what if we put 
a tight bandage about the heart and lungs, as some young 
ladies of my acquaintance do, — or bandage the feet, as they do in 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 351 

China? And what if we bandage a nobler inner faculty, and 
warp love in grave-clothes ? " 

Of Persistence which is another name for self-will in 
speech as well as in action, Christopher Crowfield says : 

a This love of the last word has made more bitterness in fami- 
lies and spoiled more Christians than it is worth. A thousand 
little differences of this kind would drop to the ground, if either 
party would let them drop. Suppose John is mistaken in saying 
breakfast is late, — suppose that fifty of the little criticisms which 
we make on one another are well or ill-founded, are they worth a 
discussion ? Are they worth ill-tempered words, such as are al- 
most sure to grow out of a discussion ? Are they worth throwing 
away peace and love for ? Are they worth the destruction of the 
only fair ideal left on earth, — a quiet, happy home ? Better let 
the most unjust statements pass in silence than risk one's temper 
in a discussion upon them. 

" Discussions, assuming the form of warm arguments, are never 
pleasant ingredients of domestic life, never safe recreations be- 
tween near friends. They are, generally speaking, mere unsus- 
pected vents for self-will, and the cases are few where they do 
anything more than to make both parties more positive in their 
own way than they were before." 

The paper upon Intolerance, opens with a shot which 
scattering just enough to hit the whole covey, hits all of us 
between the eves and demands attention. 

" People are apt to talk as if all the intolerance in life were got 
up and expended in the religious world ; whereas religious intol- 
erance is only a small branch of the radical, strong, all-prevading 
intolerance of human nature. 

" Physicians are quite as intolerant as theologians. They never 
have had the power of burning at the stake for medical opinions, 



352 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

but they certainly have shown the will. Politicians are intoler- 
ant. Philosophers are intolerant, especially those who pique 
themselves on liberal opinions. Painters and sculptors are intol- 
erant. And housekeepers are intolerant, virulently denunciatory 
concerning any departures from their particular domestic creed." 

This is the prelude to one of the best of the strong and 
pertinent series. It will be apt and pointed as long as 
human nature exists in its present form. 

One or two selections from the essay upon Discourtesy 
are the key-note to the whole, which teems with advice 
and suggestions which alas, are still needed, more than a 
score of years after their writing. 

" My second head is, that there should be in family life the 
same delicacy in the avoidance of disagreeable topics that charac- 
terizes the intercourse of refined society among strangers. 

"I do not think that it makes family-life more sincere, or any 
more honest, to have the members of a domestic circle feel a 
freedom to blurt out in each other's faces, without thought or care, 
all the disagreeable things that may occur to them : for example 
* How horridly you look this morning ! What's the matter with 
you ?' — ' Is there a pimple coming on your nose ? or what is that 
spot ? ' — * What made you buy such a dreadfully unbecoming 
dress ? ' — Observations of this kind between husbands and 
wives, brothers and sisters, or intimate friends, do not indicate 
sincerity, but obtuseness ; and the person who remarks on the 
pimple on your nose is in many cases just as apt to deceive you as 
the most accomplished Frenchwoman who avoids disagreeable 
topics in your presence. 

" Many families seem to think that it is a proof of family union 
and good-nature that they can pick each other to pieces, joke on 
each other's feelings and infirmities, and treat each other with a 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 353 

general tally-ho-ing rudeness without any offense or ill-feeling. If 
there is a limping sister, there is a never-failing supply of jokes 
on ' Dot-and-go-one ! ' and so with other defects and peculiarities 
of mind or manners. Now the perfect good-nature and mutual 
confidence which allow all this liberty are certainly admirable ; 
but the liberty itself is far from making home-life interesting or 
agreeable. 

" Jokes upon personal or mental infirmities, and a general habit 
of saying things in jest which would be the height of rudeness if 
said in earnest, are all habits which take from the delicacy of fam- 
ily affection. 

" In all rough playing with edge-tools many are hit and hurt 
who are ashamed or afraid to complain. And after all, what pos- 
sible good or benefit comes from it ? Courage to say disagreeable 
things, when it is necessary to say them for the highest good of 
the person addressed, is a sublime quality ; but a careless habit of 
saying them, in the mere freedom of family intercourse, is cer- 
tainly as great a spoiler of the domestic vines as any fox running." 

Exactingness, which is shown to be Ideality grown im- 
patient, is deprecated and the effects of the habit of over 
demand upon one's self and friends was never more clev- 
erly shown than in the comparison of the Mores and the 
Day tons which is subjoined: 

" The poor woman in the midst of possessions and attainments 
which excite the envy of her neighbors, is utterly restless and 
wretched, and feels herself always baffled and unsuccessful. Her 
exacting nature makes her dissatisfied with herself in everything that 
she undertakes, and equally dissatisfied with others. In the whole 
family there is little of that pleasure which comes from the con- 
sciousness of mutual admiration and esteem, because each one is 
pitched to so exquisite a tone that each is afraid to touch another 



354 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

for fear of making discord. They are afraid of each other every- 
where. They cannot sing to each other, play to each other, write 
to each other ; they cannot even converse together with any free- 
dom, because each knows that the others are so dismally well 
informed and critically instructed. 

" Though all agree in a secret contempt for their neighbors 
over the way, as living in a most heathenish state of ignorant con- 
tentment, yet it is a fact that the elegant brother John will often, 
on the sly, slip into the Daytons' to spend an evening and join 
them in singing glees and catches to their old rattling piano, and 
have a jolly time of it, which he remembers in contrast with the 
dull, silent hours at home. Kate Dayton has an uncultivated 
voice, which often falls from pitch; but she has a perfectly infec- 
tious gayety of good nature, and when she is once at the piano, 
and all join in some merry troll, he begins to think that there 
may be something better even than good singing ; and then they 
have dances and charades and games, all in such contented, jolly, 
impromptu ignorance of the unities of time, place, and circum- 
stance, that he sometimes doubts, where ignorance is such bliss, 
whether it isn't in truth folly to be wise. 

" Jane and Maria laugh at John for his partiality to the Day- 
tons', and yet they themselves feel the same attraction. At the 
Daytons' they somehow find themselves heroines ; their drawings 
are so admired, their singing is so charming to these simple ears, 
that they are often beguiled into giving pleasure with their own 
despised acquirements ; and Jane, somehow, is very tolerant of the 
devoted attention of Will Dayton, a joyous, honest-hearted fellow, 
whom, in her heart of hearts, she likes none the worse for being 
unexacting and simple enough to think her a wonder of taste and 
accomplishments. Will, of course, is the farthest possible from 
the Admirable Crichtons and exquisite Sir Philip Sidneys whom 
Mrs. More and the young ladies talk up at their leisure, and adorn 
with feathers from every royal and celestial bird, when they are 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 355 

discussing theoretic possible husbands. He is not in any way dis- 
tinguished, except for a kind heart, strong, native good sense, and 
a manly energy that has carried him straight into the heart of 
many a citadel of life, before which the superior and more refined 
Mr. John had set himself down to deliberate upon the best and 
most elegant way of taking it. Will's plain, homely intelligence 
has often in five minutes disentangled some ethereal snarl in which 
these exquisite Mores had spun themselves up, and brought them 
to his own way of thinking by that sort of disenchanting process 
which honest, practical sense sometimes exerts over ideality. 

" The fact is however, that in each of these families there is a 
natural defect which requires something from the other for com- 
pleteness. Taking happiness as the standard, the Daytons have 
it as against the Mores. Taking attainment as the standard, the 
Mores have it as against the Daytons. A portion of the discon- 
tented ideality of the Mores would stimulate the Daytons to 
refine and perfect many things which might easily be made better, 
did they care enough to have them so ; and a portion of the Day- 
tons' self-satisfied contentment would make the attainments and 
refinements of the Mores of some practical use in advancing their 
own happiness. 

These excerpts are doubtless better than any commen- 
tary of the writer. Indeed it is one of the difficulties of a 
devoted interpreter, to repress and condense to outline, and 
in so doing run the imminent danger of devitalizing and 
paling the ideas of a great author, while feeling always, 
that nothing can so well testify to their beauty and power 
as the writings which are under discussion, no word of 
which can really be spared. 

Painting the lily and gilding refined gold is indeed a 
humiliating attempt, and nothing half so sincere and con- 
vincing as to the strength and ethical value of these essays 



356 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

of Christopher Crowfield can be offered, as an entreaty to 
read them for one's self. 

During the year 1864 Mrs. Stowe contributed monthly 
articles to the Atlantic, which from the appearance of her 
story in the first number, had been her principal mouth- 
piece during the successive changes which ensued in its 
publishers and editorship. From the time of Phillips & 
Sampson whose deaths closely following had dissolved the 
firm, to Ticknor & Fields ; Fields, Osgood & Co.; J. R. 
Osgood, and up to 1874, when the magazine passed into the 
hands of its present proprietors, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
its publishers have brought out Mrs. Stowe's books in Amer- 
ica, its editors been her friends and gratified receivers. 

They were upon a variety of topics, all holding interest 
to American readers and are to be found in a collection 
called " The Chimney Corner." 

11 What Will You Do With Her ? " or " The Woman 
Question," deals with a dual problem, the opposing parts 
of which if adjusted as it would appear they might easily 
be, would each answer and satisfy the other's need. The 
author discusses the state of pride and prejudice which 
precluded, and still largely precludes, the assuming of the 
housework and care of another's family by competent and 
intelligent women, and the difficulties and trials of those 
who, lifted above want, find their accumulation of lux- 
uries and privileges, only a new set of cares and troubles. 

It is often asked in these later days, how Harriet Beecher 
Stowe regarded the struggle for Woman's Suffrage in 
which her sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker was so ear- 
nestly engaged. It has been declared that she was too 
lucid and fair-minded, too far-seeing and comprehensive to 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 357 

run away with the idea which brought such martyrdom 
upon its promulgators. As is well known the pioneers, in 
the dissent and impatience with which they were widely 
regarded, failed to secure the credit and gratitude of even 
women, who were doubtless indirectly benefited by their 
persistent efforts to bring them to the front, as a sex pos- 
sessed of brains, mechanical ability and responsible capa- 
city for important trusts. But see what Christopher Crow- 
field wrote in his paper upon " Woman's Sphere." 

"As to the ' Woman's Rights Movement/ it is not peculiar to 
America, it is part of a great wave in the incoming tide of modern 
civilization ; the swell is felt no less in Europe, but it comes over 
and breaks on our American shore, because our great, wide beach 
affords the best play for its waters ; and as the ocean waves bring 
with them kelp, sea-weed, mud, sand, gravel, and even putrefying 
debris, which lie unsightly on the shore, and yet, on the whole, 
are healthful and refreshing, — so the Woman's Rights movement, 
with its conventions, its speech-makings, its crudities, and eccen- 
tricities, is nevertheless a part of a healthful and necessary move- 
ment of the human race towards progress." 

As the conversation continues on we see— 

" Then," said my wife, " you believe that women ought to 
vote?" 

" If the principle on which we founded our government is true, 
that taxation must not exist without representation, and if women 
hold property and are taxed, it follows that women should be 
represented in the state by their votes, or there is an illogical 
working of our government." 

" But, my dear, don't you think that this will have a bad effect 
on the female character ? " 



358 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

" Yes," said Bob, " it will make women caucus-holders, polit- 
ical candidates." 

" It may make this of some women, just as of some men," said 
I. "But all men do not take any great interest in politics ; it is 
very difficult to get some of the very best of them to do their duty 
in voting ; and the same will be found true among women." 

" But, after all," said Bob, " what do you gain ? What will a 
woman's vote be but a duplicate of that of her husband or father, 
or whatever man happens to be her adviser ? " 

" That may be true on a variety of questions , but there are sub- 
jects on which the vote of women would, I think, be essentially 
different from that of men. On the subjects of temperance, 
public morals, and education, I have no doubt that the introduc- 
tion of the female vote into legislation, in states, counties and 
cities, would produce results very different from that of men alone. 
There are thousands of women who would close grogshops, and 
stop the traffic in spirits, if they had the legislative power ; and it 
would be well for society if they had. In fact, I think that a 
state can no more afford to dispense with the vote of women in 
its affairs than a family." 

The whole article is a common-sense view of the many- 
sided and complex question, which in its legal issue is still 
unanswered, and the essay is wholesome reading for the too 
positive minds, who jump at conclusions, with all the more 
confidence because their knowledge of contingencies is 
slight. Without, however, harping upon the question of 
voting, Mrs. Stowe proceeds to mention the professions and 
vocations open to women. These are already generally oc- 
cupied by them, amply fulfilling her prediction that women 
would excel in such capacities as authorship, literary work 
of all grades, painting, sculpture and the subordinate arts 
of photography, coloring and finishing, teaching, architec- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 359 

ture and landscape gardening, agencies of various sorts, 
medicine and cursing. 

" A Family Talk on Keconstruction " brings up an 
admirable view, in its discussion of the transition stage 
and uncertain condition of political and social affairs in 
this country, at the close of the war. 

" Is Woman a Worker" and " The Transition," treat 
further of the woman question in its different phases, and 
" Bodily Keligion " is what was then a rather original 
idea of the duty of good health, which has of late been ear- 
nestly insisted upon by the small army of metaphysical 
professors, who are known as mind curers. No one can 
raise objection to Mrs. Stowe's position in the matter. She 
goes no farther than to urge a return to natural conditions 
and an acceptance of fresh air, plain food, sleep and cleanli- 
ness, and a natural impulse to love God and one's fellow be- 
ings. She merely sought a thought-current of good feel- 
ing, which many now believe may be received, if the mind 
is open to its beneficent influence. 

" How Shall we Entertain our Company ?" " How 
Shall we be Amused?" u Dress " and " The Sources 
of Beauty in Dress," are treatises upon social and a?s- 
thetic topics of remarkable lucidity and directness. In the 
essay upon " The Cathedral " we find a loving tribute to 
a saint who was embodied in the aged Aunt Esther, (pro- 
nounced by them " Easter,") who was one of the potent in- 
fluences mentioned in the formation of the character of the 
Beecher children, and who took up her abode with the 
Stowes after their return to the east, and lived honored and 
loved, with them until her death. 

" The New Year" and " The Noble Army of Martyrs " are 



360 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

beautiful and tender remembrances of the bleeding hearts 
everywhere scattered through, the United States, for so 
through the victory of the Federal soldiers could they still 
be called, and a glowing tribute to the brave young men 
who had died during the terrible struggle for the settle- 
ment of the brotherly quarrel, which hinged upon the main- 
tenance or abolition of slavery. 

The grand fact of the emancipation of the American 
slaves which Mrs. Stowe never expected to live to see, had 
been suddenly accomplished. What no one had seen his 
way clear to do as a constitutional right, was in one-half 
hour effected, in the writing of a war order. 

The final ending of a great wrong which had seemed so 
far distant, and only to be obtained through legislation, was 
done with a few scratches of a pen held in the gaunt fingers 
of that noble work of God, honest Abraham Lincoln, so 
soon to be one of the world's most illustrious and rev- 
erenced martyrs. 

Then Harriet Beecher Stowe went to her cabinet, and 
took from its place, the bracelet of massive gold links which 
the English duchess had twelve years before clasped upon 
her small wrist at Stafford House, and had engraved upon 
its remaining links, the dates of Emancipation in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ; that of Freedom Proclaimed in Missouri 
and Maryland, and the President's Proclamation, Abolish- 
ing Slavery in the rebel states ! 

The links were then all bearing an inscription which 
meant new life, intellectual advancement and spiritual free- 
dom to millions of degraded and fettered bond-men, in the 
leading countries of the civilized world. The bracelet is in 
existence at the time of the present writing, and will be pre- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 361 

served as a memento of a life which was a great factor in 
American civilization. At this period slavery, now a thing 
of the past, was discussed with renewed interest, and the 
sales of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " were tremendously in- 
creased. The thoughts of the opposed sections of there- 
public, were turned to the writer of the great book which 
had been so important a factor in the moral preparation of 
the world for this reform, and Mrs. Stowe was overwhelmed 
by the hundreds of letters which drifted in upon her at the 
home in Hartford. In the pleasant East room where the 
greenery of the conservatory gave a glimpse of perennial 
summer, and she pondered and passed through the alembic 
of her mind, the subjects and causes of the hour, Mrs. Stowe 
was called upon to receive many visitors. 

Distinguished people made pilgrimages to Hartford to see 
her, and congratulate and thank her. Scores of celebrity 
hunters came to remark upon her personal appearance and 
household environment, many representatives of the press 
from the larger cities, intruded upon her with the varying 
demonstrations and degrees of enterprising inquisitiveness, 
which are many as the shades of their hair or the cut of their 
clothes. All of these and many indiscribable forms of intru- 
sion she met with politeness, many of them with real 
pleasure which she showed in her cordial smile, and shining 
soulful eyes, and it was indeed an aggressive and extraordi- 
narily obnoxious person, whom she did not dismiss with 
forbearance. Her manner was not conventional. No 
words of trite commonplaceness came readily to her lips, 
nor did any depreciation of her own works, seem to be 
necessary to the woman who never employed the doubtful 
assumption of false modesty which is easy to little natures. 



362 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

While she seldom refused audience to visitors, at hours 
when she was not engaged upon her work, she always took 
the privilege of terminating the interview as soon as it ceased 
to be profitable and, rising, said " good bye " with a clasp 
of the hand and an honest look into the eyes, which disarm- 
ed the possible impatience of one who might have wished 
a longer conversation. 

A neighbor, who once called at an inopportune season, 
found himself taken through an apartment where he thought 
he saw the figure of a woman lying upon a lounge. The 
servant presently returned, saying that Mrs. Stowe " was 
composing " and could not be seen. He rose to leave, and 
again passed through the room and close by the lounge up- 
on which Mrs. Stowe rested, with closed eyes. He passed 
out in some confusion of mind, which it may be presumed 
was not in the least felt, by the great author, who, if she 
heard the conversation did not permit it, nor the fact of his 
presence, to come into her deep inner consciousness, where 
ideas were in orocess of evolution. 

jl 

To preserve the liberty which is essential to any great 
life-work, one must deny the small ceremonies and ignore 
the petty conventionalities which guide less occupied lives. 
How little conception have the good people, who are ag- 
grieved because they are sometimes prevented from intruding 
upon the attention of an author, of the imperative de- 
mands upon the time, and the drain upon the resources 
physical and mental, which are with difficulty supported, 
and will admit no fresh imposition, through the thoughtless 
selfishness of friends and lion hunters. 

A lady from Cincinnati came to Hartford some years ago, 
and, naturally anxious to see the writer of the works she 




Harriet Beecher Stowe at Work. 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 



363 



had found so enjoyable and profitable, called at Mrs. Stowe's 
house with considerable timidity, just to tell her how much 
she admired her and longed to touch her hand. Accosting a 
small woman in a shade hat, who was working among the 
flowers in the yard, she asked for Mrs. Stowe. The small 
figure arose, looked searchingly at her and said simply "I 
am Mrs. Stowe," and waited, half turned towards her flow- 
ers, for the visitor to speak again. 

The caller stammered out a few words which half 
expressed her feelings, and Mrs. Stowe pulling off her 
glove, clasped her hand cordially, saying she was glad if 
she had been able to suggest anything to her. Then, cut- 
ting a few flowers she gave them to the visitor, and saying 
" good bye " in her simple manner, went into the house 
without another word or look, seeming in an instant to 
forget the presence of the lady who stood paralyzed with 
surprise. She came away, bringing the flowers and a remem- 
brance of Harriet Beecher Stowe, which, when the confus- 
ing of the two minute's interview was over, at first 
deepened into chagrin at her prompt dismissal, but soon 
merged into pleasure and personal admiration, as she recall- 
ed the friendly clasp of her hand and the look of honest 
greeting which shone in the grey eyes, telling more than 
her lips, of the sincerity of her welcome. 

Of her characteristic abstraction or absent-mindedness 
which was frequently a voluntary self- withdrawal, a power 
which she naturally possessed and had cultivated during 
years of mental labor, there are many stories. One which 
came from a lady who was the child witness to the episode, 
suggests the extreme of her peculiarity, which, in many in- 
stances, seemed to amount to neglect of social proprieties. 



364 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

One summer the Stowe family spent several months at 
Bethel, Maine, enjoying the delightful air and beautiful 
scenery of that region. Soon after their advent, numerous 
residents and summer visitors asked that Mrs. Stowe would 
give them a reception. To this she acceded, showing, how- 
ever, some wonderment that they should care to see her. 

The afternoon designated came, and the proud landlady 
went to inform her famous guest, that many people were 
already in the parlor. To her surprise, Mrs. Stowe was 
not in her room, nor about the premises and did not appear 
until nightfall, when she unconcernedly walked in after all 
the guests tired of waiting had departed. 

It then appeared, that quite forgetting the reception, she 
had taken the narrator of the story who was then a little 
girl, by the hand and gone for a long tramp up the hillside 
and into the woods where they had a delightful day, un- 
mindful of the outraged and disappointed callers who wait- 
ed in vain. It is also averred, that the great author only 
smiled in her far-away manner, when reproached by her 
friends. Neither did she appoint another day when she would 
be " at home " and was thereafter undisturbed in her rest, 
uninterrupted in her quiet pleasure. 

In 1865 when the civil war was drawing to a close, Tick- 
nor & Fields saw an opening for a magazine for boys and 
girls, and in January appeared the first number of " Our 
Young Folks," a magazine which continued in that form 
for nine years, and was eventually merged in that Prince of 
all youth's magazines, " St. Nicholas.'' 

Among the contributors were Thomas Bailey Aldrich, 
T. W. Higginson, Dr. Dio Lewis, Mayne Eeid, Eose Terry, 
Louisa M. Alcott, Oliver Optic, Mrs. A. M. Diaz, with an 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 365 

occasional poem by Whittier, Longfellow and E. H. Stod- 
dard. The editors also supplied suggestive and entertain- 
ing articles, making it a collection of the most delectable 
intellectual viands, which up to that time had ever been set 
before favored youth. Mrs. Stowe wrote the leading article 
which was the first of a series in another new line, and one 
which proved particularly charming to her young friends, 
and will remain a most interesting epoch to those who 
knew her personally, as in these sketches about squirrels, 
and birds, hens, chickens and ducks, cats, dogs, mice, and 
insects she has put much of herself, her personal tenderness 
for all little folks in feathers and fur, and the solicitude and 
fondness for lesser creation, which is a characteristic of the 
greatest minds and noblest hearts. 

What boy could read " Hum, the Son of Buz," and not 
be awakened to the infinite depth of protecting love with 
which this author regarded a poor humming bird, and vividly 
aware of many tiny graces and intelligent actions on the 
part of a being which he had before only attempted to 
catch in his net? u Aunt Esther's Rules and Stories," " Our 
Country Neighbors," " Sir Walter Scott," and the stories 
of " Our Dogs," which recount the personal appearance and 
characters of the canine pets which conferred happiness and 
varied amusement to the Stowe family during many years, 
are full of simple literary charm, and a graceful allusiveness 
which fitly ornaments the spontaneous feeling and loving 
tenderness, which appear in every paragraph. These 
sketches, which are collected under the captions of " Queer 
Little People" and "A Dog's Mission," were followed by 
the story of " Little Pussy Willow," " The Daisy's First 
Winter" and "The Minister's Watermelons," gathered an 



366 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

eager audience among the young readers of the delightful 
magazine which looked in upon so many American homes 
each month. 

These collections were subsequently published in book 
form by Ticknor & Fields and their successors, and ap- 
peared simultaneously in England and Scotland, furnishing 
wholesome entertainment to the children of the admirers 
of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " and the subsequent books of 
Mrs. Stowe. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

MRS. STOWE'S FIRST VISIT TO THE SOUTH IN 1865. PURCHASE 
OF AN ESTATE UPON THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER. " MEN OF OUR 
TIMES ; OR, LEADING PATRIOTS OF THE DAY." EIGHTEEN 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF STATESMEN, GENERALS AND 
ORATORS. " RELIGIOUS POEMS." MRS. STOWE APPEARS A 
CO -EDITOR WITH DONALD G. MITCHELL (iK. MARVEL) OF 
HEARTH AND HOME. MRS. STOWE'S THIRD GREAT WORK 
APPEARS IN 1869. "OLD TOWN FOLKS," LAID IN THE 
LAST CENTURY IN THE TOWN OF NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS. 
SAM LAWSON AND OTHER CHARACTERS WHICH HAVE 
BECOME CLASSIC. PROFESSOR STOWE FURNISHED MUCH 
MATERIAL FOR THE WORK, AND IS DESCRIBED AS THE 
HERO OF THE STORY. THE PECULIAR EXPERIENCES 
OF "THE VISIONARY BOY." PROFESSOR STOWE'S OWN 
PSYCHOLOGICAL PECULIARITY. CORRESPONDENCE WITH 
GEORGE ELIOT UPON THE SUBJECT OF SPIRITUALISM. " SAM 
LAWSON 'S FIRESIDE STORIES." 

In 1865, after the war was finished, Mrs. Stowe for the 
first time in her life, went South. She spent some weeks in 
Florida at Jacksonville, at a plantation upon the St. John's 
river, and later, purchased an estate at Mandarin. Mrs. 
Stowe made this purchase with a view to the comfort and 
betterment of her oldest son Frederick, who had been from 
his youth, afflicted with a delicate and nervous organiza- 
tion, and a weak will, which could not restrain him from 



368 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

indulgence in stimulants, which accentuated his misery, and 
made his unhappy life a deeper sorrow to his friends. 

Under the supervision of a practical planter, the land 
was cleared, orange trees were set and a house built upon 
the banks of the St. John's river, under the shade of some 
immense live oak trees. This place became the much 
loved winter home which George Eliot in one of her letters 
to Mrs. Stowe refers to as "your Western Sorrento." 
Thither were annually transported the lares and penates of 
the family, animate as well as inanimate, for some pet dogs 
and cats made the trip several times, returning with the 
family, at the approach of warm weather, to their Hartford 
home. 

Mrs. Stowe became deeply interested in the building of 
an Episcopal church at Mandarin, lending effective pecuni- 
ary assistance, as well as personal aid in collecting funds. 

She humorously related to the writer how she once be- 
came an involuntary and successful speculator in real estate, 
— buying a small piece of land at $200, and selling it 
afterwards for $7,000, a fair profit, she thought upon the 
investment. The money was put to good use in the pur- 
chase of a parsonage for her youngest son, when he became 
pastor of the Windsor Avenue Congregational church in 
Hartford. 

Professor Stowe who was now at liberty to employ his 
profound knowledge of ancient history, Eastern languages, 
ancient and modern, as well as his rich fund of Biblical lore, 
in giving to the world what had heretofore been locked in 
the ancient languages and specially studied by theological stu- 
dents, was deeply absorbed upon a work, which was pub- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" 369 

lishedtwo years later by the Hartford Publishing Company, — 
" The Origin and History of the Books of the New Testament." 
Of a very social nature, Professor Stowe naturally talked 
of his work and his family were called upon to listen to 
his conclusions. Mrs. Stowe as usual offered many sug- 
gestions of value, receiving in return practical assistance 
from him in the literary work which pressed heavily upon 
her. 

During the year 1867 Mrs. Stowe prepared a set of bio- 
graphical sketches which was published early in 1868, being 
issued by the Hartford Publishing Company, "by subscrip- 
tion only." The collection made an octavo volume of some 
five hundred and seventy-five pages, with eighteen fine steel 
plate portraits. This house had made a success of Profes- 
sor. Stowe's book upon "The Origin and History of the 
Books of the New Testament," selling some sixty thousand 
copies. They sold about forty thousand of Mrs. Stowe's 
" Men of our Times," paying her a handsome royalty, be- 
sides an extra thousand dollars for the sketch of her brother 
Henry Ward Beecher, which she rather reluctantly sup- 
plied. 

The volume, "Men of Our Times; or Leading Patriots 
of the Day," comprised narratives of the lives and deeds of 
American statesmen, generals and orators, including bio- 
graphical sketches and anecdotes of Lincoln, Grant, Garri- 
son, Sumner, Chase, Wilson, Greeley, Farragut, Andrew 
Colfax, Stanton, Douglas, Buckingham, Sherman, Sheridan, 
Howard, Phillips and Beecher. 

It was appropriately dedicated to the young men of 
America, and in the preface where the writer speak 
herself as the editor, thus acknowledging her indebtedness 



370 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

to various sources from which she collected her facts, she 
gives this terse and cheering paragraph. 

"It will be found when the sum of all these biographies is added 
up, that the qualities which have won this great physical and 
moral victory have not been so much exceptional gifts of genius or 
culture, as those more attainable ones which belong to man's moral 
nature." 

This line of literary work, which may perhaps without 
disparagement be called mechanical, as it certainly is not 
imaginative if the biographer be true to his high calling, is 
alas ! frequently made to serve base uses, in which good 
will becomes the father to fair statement, or personal bias 
sees through a glass darkly, the doubtful incidents of a ca- 
reer. But Mrs. Stowe demonstrated, to the surprise of her 
friends, the possession of a faculty which is supposed to be 
quite apart from that of a graceful essayist, of a successful 
novel writer or the swift re-incarnation of painful realities 
into such a burning creation as that of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin." 

Mrs. Stowe's able handling of the complex political 
questions, and the sifting of the essential factors from a 
mass of materials bearing upon events in the history of the 
war which had lately closed, was natural to her logical 
mind and clear judgment, and enhanced by the intense 
interest with which she had for years, followed the succeed- 
ing events in our nation's history. Men were events, in 
those surcharged times, and Mrs. Stowe's sketches of refor- 
mers, politicians, generals and naval heroes are instinct with 
individual life and are rare memorials of men all of whom 
but one, Lincoln, were then living ; more than two thirds of 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 371 

whom, have now with their illustrious biographer, passed 
into the " undiscovered country." 

In the same year Mrs. Stowe published a small volume 
of Eeligious Poems. It comprised twenty-eight of her 
published contributions to The Independent and other peri- 
odicals. They are unassuming in style, but sweetly and 
tenderly religious in sentiment, with flavors of the woods 
and sky and youthful memories of music and poetry, per- 
vading them all, as they did her prose writings. 

In Dec, 1868, Mrs. Stowe, in answer to the solicitations 
of the projector appeared as co-editor, with Donald G. 
Mitchell (Ik. Marvel), of a weekly illustrated journal called 
" Hearth and Home." It was devoted to the interests of 
the " Farm, Garden and Fireside." Joseph B. Lyman and 
Mary M. Dodge, the present editor of St. Nicholas, were 
associate editors. Among the contributors were Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, William Cullen Bryant, J. T. Trow- 
bridge, Grace Greenwood, Rose Terry and other well known 
writers of high literary merit. Mrs. Stowe, who followed 
Mr. Mitchell in the editorial columns in the first number, 
wrote a characteristic "Greeting," and furnished a long 
article descriptive of " How we kept Thanksgiving at Old- 
town." The editor-in-chief appended a note announcing it 
as a foretaste of a new novel from Mrs. Stowe's pen, which 
was to appear the following season, and sure enough, here 
nearly all the personages which later appeared in " Old 
Town Folks," made their first bow. It was a draft from 
the salient points of her book then in preparation. 

But Mrs. Stowe's precarious health forbade any engage- 
ment so exacting as that of editorship, and her connection 
with Hearth and Home continued but a few months. 



872 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

As Mrs. Stowe became past middle life the fits of ab- 
straction which were peculiar and natural to her, increased 
and deepened to so great a degree, that her personal appear- 
ance which had always been quite remarkable in various 
ways, became decidedly eccentric. A friend who was en- 
tertaining her in New York about this time, relates having 
invited a company of enthusiastic admirers, a number of 
whom were young ladies, to meet her at luncheon. As the 
time arrived, the hostess observed with considerable dis- 
may that her distinguished guest was falling into a state 
of moodiness, which augered little for the entertainment of 
the expectant company. 

When the ladies arrived and were presented, Mrs. Stowe 
greeted them with the far-away expression which was be- 
coming habitual, and sat through the luncheon absorbed 
in thought, speaking only once of her own volition, when 
she requested some one to " Please pass the butter," 
and immediately relapsed into impenetrable mental soli- 
tude. It amusingly suggests those people so clev- 
erly described in one of the essays 'of whimsical young 
Winthrop Macworth Praed, who in the midst of noisy 
crowds or the attacks of direct conversationalists, were 
still — alone. Mrs. Stowe afterwards declared that she was 
thinking out scenes for "Old Town Folks," which story 
she then had in hand. 

Early in 1869, Fields, Osgood & Co. published this book, 
which must be counted as the third of Mrs. Stowe's great 
works and, though it is open to criticism on several points, 
judging as we must from the effect of a work, rather than 
by its conformation to certain canons laid out by literary 
law makers, it must be pronounced one of her most power- 




HARKIET BEECHER StO^E AS THE ACTHOR OP OLD TOWN FOLKS. 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 373 

ful and characteristic works. Its popular success, suffi- 
ciently attests to the intrinsic worth of its sentiments and 
the picturesque power of its delineations. 

Next in numbers to the people who universally respond 
to a mention of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," are the vast army 
of readers who know " Old Town Folks," and instantly ex- 
press their enjoyment of it. Though announced and some- 
times spoken of as a novel, it cannot, strictly speaking, be 
characterized as such. It is rather, a series of vivid and 
natural pictures of New England life, near the close of the 
last century, loosely strung together upon the romance of 
four young persons, a tale so uneventful in its course, and 
mild in its denouments as to scarcely deserve the name of 
plot. 

In " Uncle Tom's Cabin " the author's strength was in 
her burning earnestness of purpose in laying existing 
facts before the Christian world. In "Minister's Wooing" 
her power was in the practical grasp and forcible presen- 
tation of the results of certain theological doctrines. 
In "Old Town Folks" she excels most rarely in the 
admirable depictions of characters peculiar to the local- 
ity and time, in which the story is laid. The word char- 
acters is used advisedly, for Harriet Beecher Stowe 
looked at the world from the outside, believing that 
actions are materialized motives, and results, the 
accumulation of intentions. She had no taste for the 
analytical style whicli tends ever toward a dyspeptic 
anxiety for the workings of internal springs, often dis- 
appointing expectation in resultant effects. 

The story is laid in the town of Natick, Massachusetts, 
at a period when New England was the seed-bed of Amer- 



374 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ican civilization. The author observed that New England 
had been to our republic what the Dorian Hive was to 
Greece; a capital place to emigrate from, whence were car- 
ried the ideas and principles which, disseminated over the 
vast area of our country, have grown into the tense and 
strong fibre of the American character. The author, who 
chose to write " Old Town Folks " under the pseudonym of 
" Horace Holyoke," acknowledges her studies for this object 
to have been pre-Kaphaslite, drawn from real characters, 
real scenes and real incidents. Some of her material was 
gleaned from early colonial history, but many of the char- 
acters were drawn from conversations with Professor Stowe, 
who had rare descriptive and mimetical powers, and sug- 
gested weaving some of his personal recollections and 
experiences into the work. 

The portion laid in " Cloudland " plainly indicates rem- 
iniscences of her youth at Litchfield. The whole was 
connected by the genius of the writer, into the remarkable 
work so familiar to American readers, by whom it is 
fondly prized and believed in, as a rarely truthful and 
graphic description of the New England people, from whom 
sprung all the intellectual strength and firm principle which 
dwell in the American character. 

The social history of Old Town, as it is known in these 
traditions, transpired during Professor Stowe's youth, and 
much of it is reproduced in this story, which is considered 
one of the most artistic of its gifted author. It appeared 
more easy, taking much of it from her husband's childish 
experiences, to write the book in the first person, and from 
a masculine standpoint. She must put herself into a boy's 
shoes to know Sam Lawson, who was an early friend of 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 375 

Professor Stowe, as she has made us know him, the typical, 
Yankee do-nothing and universal genius. Glimpses of 
him we have seen embodied in various thriftless and 
intolerable men, who yet had a vast and fascinating range 
of homely lore, and that natural faculty to do interesting 
things which is such a delight to youth. As well try to 
describe Sam Lawson to the readers of this chapter, as to 
tell them of Uncle Tom. He is as well known as George 
Washington, and alas! perhaps dearer to the hearts of av- 
erage republican humanity. He is perhaps the best instance 
of character drawing, ever done by the artist who made such 
portraiture her specialty. 

Uncle "Fliakim," the dear Grandmother, Old Crab Smith 
Miss Asphyxia, and Miss Mehitable Rossiter, are indisput- 
ably real people. They still exist, possibly modified in 
form by the friction of advancing civilization, which ever 
tends to wear away individual peculiarities and reduce out- 
ward demeanor to a dead level of cultivated repression, but 
we know them, or have known them at some time. 

The stately Congregational minister in his white wig and 
impressive silk gown with ruffles at his throat and wrists, 
his awe-inspiring, brocaded " Lady," the colored retainers 
who felt but lightly the fetters which bound them to their 
Colonial owners, and the remnants of the tribes of Massa- 
chusetts Indians who are introduced as a sort of living 
scenic effect, we do not know. But we can easily believe in 
them, since all testimony goes to prove that they were 
features of the time. 

They all live and speak and possess distinct personality, 
but the figures of Harry and Tina Percival do not strike us 
as real young people. Tina, seems not half so charming as the 



376 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

author would have us feel, in fact is a repetition of similar 
failures who appear up to this time in Mrs. Stowe's writ- 
ing, whenever she essays to depict a pretty, frivolous dar- 
ling, who beneath all her fascinating lightness and brilliant 
scintillations (which the reader cannot see) is said to have 
a fund of moral strength and right feeling, Harry, who is 
the poetical counterpart of the hero, is, in spite of the 
author's intentions, something of a prig. Neither does 
Horace Holyoke take on the rounded personality which we 
expect and desire in the scholarly, nervous, high strung and 
conscientious boy which he should appear. The inference 
is forced upon one, that she has not personally known such 
personalities and is not able to construct symmetrical char- 
acters, from stray bits of disjointed skeletons. 

The interest and value of the work taken as a whole, would 
seem to raise it above criticism of these characters for it is 
no less art which employs models, when the portraiture is a 
perfect representation of life and the composition well 
balanced, and carefully managed as to tone and color, but 
they demonstrate the fact that imagination was not one of 
the special gifts of Harriet Beecher Stowe. She possessed 
rare descriptive power, a pure quality of humor, shrewd- 
ness, philosophy, and a certain happy selection of language 
which gave a graphic touch to the whole, but where purely 
creative genius was needed, she was not successful. 

Indeed, her natural make-up, almost of necessity pre- 
cluded this faculty, which is the concomitant of pure fic- 
tion. Its resultant action was remarkably absent in her 
life and social intercourse, as she never seemed to find a 
necessity for the polite prevarications or quick inventions 
which are sometimes employed to annoint the wheels of 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 377 

social life. Her inherent and instinctive honesty, her habit- 
ual concern for the higher certitudes of existence and for 
historical facts, were not related to the genius of fiction. She 
had rather, the talent for biography, having the memory 
for such work, and the perception of the logic of events, 
which has made her a historian, rather than a poet. 

It is indeed a poverty of invention which necessitates or 
permits the chief characters in "Old Town Folks" to make 
their advent as waifs of foreign birth, and orphans who are 
thrown upon the charity of cross-grained relatives, who in 
various ways, short of absolute cruelty, make their young 
lives miserable ; to re-incarnate her typical minister, Lyman 
Beecher, and schoolmaster, John P. Brace, under the thin 
disguise of new names ; introducing again the woman of 
high education and deep feeling who suffers under the cruel 
logic of the theology of the period, who originated in Mrs. 
Fisher, lived in " Minister's Wooing " as Mrs. Marvyn, and 
again completes a short cycle and is born in " Old Town 
Folks " as Esther Avery ; and showing forth the fascinations 
and villainies of a cousin of Aaron Burr, as the only possible 
■conqueror of the well-read but inexperienced, country girls. 

The reader loses faith in these persons who walk as 
■cheerfully upon the stage as if they were a " new attrac- 
tion," and wishes the artist could renew her selection of 
choice models. But these portraits taken from persons 
she had known, and the discussion of social and political 
questions always strongly flavored by theology, were Mrs. 
Stowe's natural, inherited stock in trade. This was her 
world, her line of thought, her idea of intellectual and 
physical existence. It was doubtless, taken all in all, the 
most remarkable literary endowment of the generation 



378 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

which rolled in a wave of talented American authors. In 
it we see reproduced her own spirit, tastes, preferences and 
beliefs. If for nothing else, " Old Town Folks " is valuable as 
a suggestion of her mental environment at mature life, for the 
conversations and tenor of life at Hartford, rested upon such 
topics and questions as these which underlay the story of 
" Old Town Folks," and formed a solid basis upon which to 
rest her opinions upon themes of recent occurrence, all over 
the world. It may be said that Mrs. Stowe had no literary 
life in its social sense. That while she met and talked 
with many of the gifted writers and thinkers of her day, 
she formed no intimacies, was not in the least diverted from 
her own individuality, or wrought upon by the gradual 
change, which was coming over the methods and manners 
of literature. 

She remained first and always a Beecher, living in her 
recollections of New England people, contented, more, 
proud to dwell upon her family, past and present, and 
to let the less pronounced thinking world, go on its way, 
as she went on hers. In the second place, she was a 
Stowe, affectionately devoted to her husband, whom she 
fervently respected as a scholar of deep research, and ac- 
quirements which took hold upon the past, through ancient 
languages even to the word of God ; who was furthermore 
possessed of versatile gifts, and some spiritual insights and 
perceptions, which were quite outside of common, human 
experience. 

The fact that Mrs. Stowe wrote to George Eliot with 
whom she entered into an interesting correspondence at 
about this period, that Professor Stowe was the " visionary 
boy," whom she made the hero of " Old Town Folks," and 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 379 

that the experiences which she related, were phenomena of 
frequent occurrence with him, and had been so even from his 
earliest childhood, makes relevant a notice of some of the 
psychological conditions which were peculiar to the scholar- 
ly man, one who was by temperament and trend of mind 
as far as possible from the credulity or hallucination 
commonly attributed to believers in manifestations that ap- 
pear to be supernatural. The descriptions of clairvoyant 
phenomena which in themselves scarcely give adequate 
excuse for their frequent introduction in the experiences of 
Horace Holyoke the hero of " Old Town Folks," take on 
new significance and interest, when it appears that they 
are unexaggerated instances of the spiritual visitations, if 
one chooses to so call them, which were a life long, and 
recurring fact, with Professor Stowe. 

Certain it is that Professor Stowe came into the world pos- 
sessed of an uncommon attribute, which may be adversely 
considered, either as a sixth sense revealing hidden things, or 
as peculiar hallucinations. The latter conclusion, and the 
more natural one perhaps, is hardly compatible with his 
clear mentality and the sound judgment, which he 
brought to bear upon this phenomena itself, no less than 
upon all other topics. Neither is the theory held by 
Professor Park of Andover that his sight of things which 
were not apparent to other people was due to a disease of 
the optic nerve, altogether reasonable in consideration of 
the nervous ebullition which preceded and accompanied 
his visions, as has been described in "Old Town Folks." 
The conclusion must be from the reader's point of 
view. Suffice to say that he was at times utterly unable 
to distinguish between tangible objects and the visions 



380 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

which passed before his mind's eye. In early childhood 
he was quite unaware that he held any power which was 
not common to humanity, supposing, naturally, that all 
people saw as he did, objects which were far out of reach 
of the eye. 

As a near-sighted child sooner or later becomes aware 
that it is wanting in the far sight which is common, so 
Calvin E. Stowe early inferred that his friends could not 
see absent things, and departed souls as he did, and he 
became as a young man, somewhat in awe of his 
power, and loth to speak of it. When, however, in later 
years he recognized it as a peculiarity which he shared 
with a few other people, he came to regard it as an 
interesting fact, and conversed freely with intimate friends 
as to his sights and perceptions. In common with most 
other intelligent people, and especially so, because of his 
strange experiences, Professor and Mrs. Stowe became deep- 
ly interested in psychological manifestations. The matter 
was under frequent discussion and with friends they evoked 
surprising manifestations from " Planchette " and attended 
various so-called spiritualistic seances in New York. "While 
in Rome, Mrs. Stowe in company with Elizabeth Barrett 
Browning and others, received some surprising evidences of 
things occult and strange. 

Upon this theme much of the correspondence with George 
Eliot dwelt, and Mrs. Stowe most feelingly interpreted the 
wave of spiritualism then rushing over America, as a sort 
of Rachel-cry of bereavement, towards the invisible ex- 
istence of the loved ones ; but her mature judgment like that 
of her husband's, was against the value of mediumistic 
testimonies. So involved were they in trickeries, and so 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 381 

defiled by low adventurers, that it was impossible to regard 
the movement in its imperfect development (which has not 
materially changed in twenty years), as otherwise than 
repulsive. 

Though filled with the yearning which draws human hearts 
so strongly towards the hidden future, Mrs. Stowe could 
not be satisfied that the veil had ever been rent for human 
eyes. Professor Stowe, never allied himself in any way 
with spiritualists, not deeming such revelations as had been 
given him, evidence which could be formulated into a creed, 
or depended upon as a religion. He joined his wife in the 
delightful correspondence with George Eliot and said, re- 
ferring to the subject, " I have had no connection with any 
of the modern movements, except as father confessor." 

He investigated his personal condition intelligently, and 
noted that the action of this sense depended greatly upon 
his physical condition, observing that when he was not in 
perfect health, his visions were of an unpleasant nature, 
though he did not perceive that an unhealthy state of the 
nerves or body, at all increased the frequency or clearness of 
his visions. This fact, of course, will in the mind of most 
readers, tend to relegate them to the realm of waking 
dreams, though it does not conclusively disprove the theory 
of the existence, either bodily or spiritually, of what he 
saw. 

Those who desire to believe that Professor Stowe was a 
" medium " will receive as valuable testimony the fact that 
he not only saw, but believed he heard and conversed with 
these etherealized personalities. He was in the habit of con- 
versing freely during the last ten years of his life with . a 
dear friend, a young clergyman of Hartford, whom he found 
particularly vigorous in thought, and refreshing to his in- 



382 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

tellectual life. He often spoke to him of talking with his 
son Henry who had died years before, and one morning told 
him that the devil, taking advantage of his illness, had been 
grievously tempting him, night after night. Coming in the 
guise of a horseman, with terribly dark, hostile and violent 
manner yelling that his son Charles was dead, and question- 
ing his faith in various aggravating ways. 

" But," said he smiling with satisfaction, " I was ready 
for him last night, I had fortified myself with passages 
of Scripture. I found some things in Ephesians which 
were just what I wanted, and when he came last night, I 
hurled them at him. I tell you, it made him bark like a 
dog, and he took himself off. He won't trouble me again." 

Professor Stowe also recounted to a friend an interview 
which he declared he- had with Goethe, one day out under 
the trees. Pie intensely enjoyed the discussion with the 
great mind of the German Shakespeare and reported a most 
interesting explanation which the author of Faust, gave of 
the celebrated closing lines of the second part of that great 
work — 

"All of mortality is but a symbol shown, 
Here to reality longings have grown ; 
How superhumanly wondrous, 'tis done. 
The eternal, the womanly Love leads us on." 

These experiences, which seem to so singularly combine 
scholarship and speculation, positive knowledge of the high- 
est order and beliefs which by a literal minded generation, 
are generally deemed weakness, were not peculiar to his 
old age, but had continued with him all through his long, 
remarkably vigorous and logical, intellectual career. 

While it must be allowed that Mrs. Stowe's representa- 
tions of family life and its general trend of thought and 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 383 

conversation, are an inimitable reproduction of the thinking 
people of the old New England communities, and that this 
state of things was so general as to make families who 
were not so concerned and discursive, seem ignorant or set- 
apart as anomalies ; dwelling so earnestly upon these themes 
in her books, not only proves her a true daughter and sister 
of her family, but by nature as naturally a minister of the gos- 
pel, a teacher of religion, a reformer and essayist, as Dr. 
Lyman Beecher himself, or the deepest thinker or most grace- 
ful speaker among his seven clerical sons. She had all of 
their impulse towards expression, all of their force and 
lucidity of thought, their grace, tenderness and humor, to 
which were added her feminine intuitions and sympathies. 

George Eliot wrote to her — Cl I think your way of present- 
ing the religious convictions, which are not your own, ex- 
cept by indirect fellowship, is a triumph of insight and true 
tolerance." It made Harriet Beecher Sto we what she was, 
the most remarkable and influential woman of her time. 

" Old Town Folks " was published in Boston in May 1869, 
and by the first of August twenty -five thousand copies had 
been sold. It appeared simultaneously through Sampson 
and Low, in London. It ran through three large editions 
there in the same time. By the first of June, five forthcoming 
translations were announced in Germany, and it still remains 
constant in demand in several languages. The name of 
Sam Lawson became a household word all over the land, and 
Mrs. Stowe humored the public wish for more of him and 
his entertaining conversations, by issuing through Jas. R 
Osgood & Co., a collection of fifteen tales called " Sam Law- 
son's Oldtown Fireside Stories.' 1 It of course had a large 
sale and contains innocent amusement enough for many 
winter evenings. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LAST GREAT EVENT OF MRS. STOWE'S LITERARY CAREER. 

"the true story of lady byron's life." an article 
which shocked the whole reading world. volumi- 
nous abuse of mrs. stowe by the defenders of lord 
byron and the serious deprecation of many 
friendly reviewers in the united states as well 
as great britain. mrs. stowe's childish impres- 
sion of lord byron. her acquaintance with lady 
byron begun during her first visit to england, 
lady byron's story confided to her in 1856. lady 
byron's consultation with mrs. stowe. decision to 
remain silent during lady byron's life. re-open- 
ing of the controversy thirteen years after, by 
Blackwood's magazine in a review of the guiccioli 
book of memoirs. the reviewer's abuse of lady 
byron. the spirit of the article echoed in america 
and the u memoirs" of byron's mistress, re-published 
in the united states. mrs. stowe's expectation of 
a vindication from lady byron's english friends, 
her reluctant assumption of the duty. her con- 
scientiousness in the matter. her repulsive dis- 
closure weighed in the balance against lord 
byron's seductive immoralities. 

In September of the year 1869, when Harriet Beecher 
Stowe was fifty-seven years of age ; in the full sjtrength of 
384 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 385 

her matured intellectuality; when the fires of youthful 
passion and impetuous feeling had long since burnt them- 
selves out, leaving only the clear, shining embers of well 
considered purpose ; in the zenith of her unparalleled 
popularity and world-wide fame ; standing high above all 
women as a writer whose success in touching the popular 
heart and conscience had transcended all those of her time ; 
she published in the Atlantic Monthly and simultaneously 
in Macmillan's Magazine, an article of considerable length, 
which bore with it a revelation so astounding, so monstrous 
in its unimagined putridity, that the whole reading 
world shrieked aloud, and turned upon the writer with 
contumely, invective and personal reproaches which have 
scarcely found a parallel in the history of literature. It 
brought down upon her, not only the hatred and volumin- 
ous abuse of the friends and defenders of the parties whom 
it accused, but also the condemnation and rebuke of people, 
who justly deprecate the dragging to light of filthy crimes 
whose details have a pernicious effect upon society at large. 

" The True Story of Lady Byron's Life " as told by Mrs. 
Stowe, had sufficient airing. The reasons for its appear- 
ance, which the writer considered, fully justified her dis- 
closure, were supplied by her and her friends, so that he 
who would, might have been fully posted upon the un- 
pleasant subject; but at the distance of twenty years, it may 
be profitable to look over the ground again and realize why 
it seemed to Mrs. Stowe right, to tell the " True Story of 
Lady Byron's Life " which she firmly believed it to be. 

It must not be supposed that she was wholly unprepared 
for the storm that it aroused, though it is undeniable that 
she was bitterly wounded by the sweeping censure with 
25 



386 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

which all parties, friends and foes alike, greeted her act. 
Her literary experience had not been all of pleasantness. 
She had not only suffered for the book which she had lately 
seen justified in the emancipation of the slaves, but she had 
met adverse, sometimes unkind, criticism upon her subse- 
quent works. Though it cannot be said that these had 
had much effect upon her choice of subject, or manner of 
literary treatment, no one can believe that she found it 
agreeable or conducive to her peace of mind, to be thus held 
up as a target for the slings and arrows of an army of 
critics, which, if not always aimed with skill, or deserved 
by their victim, were dreadful and left their scars. But 
in all her acts, public and private, she chose what she 
deemed to be the right, and seeing beyond the brief alarms 
of this world and the objections of a less clear-minded and 
conscientious public, maintained it always. Why she felt 
called upon to do a thing which was so universally con- 
demned, a brief consideration will shoWo 

As early as the year 1821 when Harriet was a 
child of nine, the Beecher household at Litchfield, always 
accustomed to keep intelligently informed as to the happen- 
ings of the world, often discussed the subject of the separa- 
tion of Lady Byron, from her talented and erratic husband. 

It had taken place five years before, but was kept before 
the public mind by his poems, which referred to his domes- 
tic misfortunes under various fictitious heads. Byron's 
early poems had been favorites with the older members of 
the family, and his best efforts were read before the chil- 
dren, over whose innocent minds his unworthy sentiments 
and allusions passed without any effect. Harriet listened 
with anxious gravity while her father discussed the poet's 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 387 

career, with the ladies of his household, and declared that 
"he wanted to see Byron, give him his views of religious 
thought, and help him out of his troubles." With his mis- 
fortunes they all felt deep sympathy, in spite of his acknowl- 
edged idiosyncrasies. They, it appeared, were almost par- 
donable in so gifted a genius, and a man "who had the 
angel within him." 

With the rest of the young women who were at 
susceptible age all over the English reading world, 
Harriet Beecher sang the heart breaking " Farewell For- 
ever, and if Forever, then Forever Fare Thee Well," as 
set to music; and thrilled and wept in tenderness for the 
adorable man who could thus forgive and bless the severe, 
unforgiving precisian, whom he had taken for his wife, 
and so clearly described in his character of Donna Inez the 
mother of Don Juan, and again idealized in the exquisite 
description of Aurora Raby, in the same poem. Harriet 
Beecher had grown into womanhood, wifehood, maternity 
and famous authorship, if not in sympathy, at least in that 
toleration, for Byron, which has been accorded and doubt- 
less, to the end of time will be accorded, to any handsome, 
talented, fascinating fellow who is in trouble, particularly if 
he happens to be a poet and a Lord. 

As is well known, his wife, living in retirement in 
England, all her life maintained a silence upon the sub- 
ject, which was universally felt to be severe, even 
atrocious, perhaps the more so, as women usually are 
depended upon to talk, upon all topics and occasions. 

It was therefore, with some surprise that Mrs. Stowe 
next heard of Lady Byron as a philanthropist, and an 
ardent sympathizer in the anti-slavery movement. After 



388 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

the intimate acquaintance formed during her first and sec- 
ond visits, to England, Mrs. Stowe experienced a complete 
revulsion of feeling, from wonderment at her silence upon 
the subject of her reasons for deserting her husband, to as- 
tonishment at the Christian spirit which had enabled her 
to pass her blameless existence, calmly enduring such terri- 
ble wrongs. 

When the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " visited Eng- 
land in 1853, in the first flush of the phenomenal success of 
her great work, she met Lady Byron at a luncheon party 
at the house of one of her friends. 

Mrs. Stowe was struck with the gentle dignity of her 
personal appearance and thus describes her : 

" The party had many notables, but among them all, my atten- 
tion was fixed principally upon Lady Byron. She was at this 
time sixty-one years of age * but still had, to a remarkable degree, 
that personal attraction which is commonly considered to belong 
only to youth and beauty. Her form was slight, giving an 
impression of fragility ; her motions were both graceful and 
decided; her eyes bright and full of interest and quick obser- 
vation. Her silvery white hair seemed to lend a grace to the 
transparent purity of her complexion, and her small hands had a 
pearly whiteness. I recollect she wore a plain widow's cap of a 
transparent material ; and was dressed in some delicate shade of 
lavender which harmonized well with her complexion. When I 
was introduced to her I felt in a moment the words of her hus- 
band: — 

" There was awe in the homage that she drew ; 
Her spirit seemed as seated on a throne." 

* Twenty years older than our famous woman who afterwards became her 
Champion. 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 389 

Calm, self-poised and thoughtful, she seemed to me rather to 
resemble an interested spectator of the world's affairs, than an 
actor involved in its trials ; yet the sweetness of her smile, and a 
certain very delicate sense of humor in her remarks, made the 
way of acquaintance easy. Her first remarks were a little play- 
ful ; but in a few moments we were speaking on what every one 
in those days was talking about, — the slavery question in America. 
It need not be remarked that when any one subject especially 
occupies the public mind, those known to be interested in it are 
compelled to listen to many weary platitudes. Lady Bryon's 
remarks, however, caught my ear and arrested my attention by 
their peculiar, incisive quality, their originality and the evidence 
they gave that she was as well informed on all our matters as the 
best American statesman could be. I had no wearisome course to 
go over with her as to the difference between the general Govern- 
ment and State Governments, nor explanations of the United 
States Constitution ; for she had the whole before her mind with 
perfect clearness. Her morality upon the slavery question, too, 
impressed me as something far higher and deeper than the com- 
mon sentimentalism of the day. Many of her words surprised 
me greatly and gave me new material for thought. I found I 
was in company with a commanding mind and hastened to gain 
instruction from her on another point where my interest had been 
aroused. * 

Their acquaintance during several interviews grew into 
tender friendship and when Mrs. Stowe went abroad three 
years later, in 1856, to secure a foreign copyright upon her 

* Without doubt Mrs. Stowe invested Lady Byron with an ideal charm, for their 
characters seemed a natural compliment each tothe other and Mrs. Hooker, relates 
how upon one occasion when " Sister Harriet" had been visiting Lady Byron, she 
came away in her absent-minded manner, leaving her gloves in Lady Byron's dress- 
ing rooms. " Never mind," said Lady Byron who had accompanied her to the sta- 
tion, " we wear the same size, take mine and I will keep yours." Mrs. Stowe took 
the gloves, which were of a delicate drab, but carried them in her hand— she never 
put them on— but years afterwards her sister saw them folded in tissue paper with 
rose leaves which dropped from a bud Lady Byron had worn at the same inter- 
view. 



390 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

new book " Dred," among the brightest anticipations held 
out by this journey, was the hope of oiace more seeing Lady 
Byron. Though London was deserted Mrs. Stowe found 
that Lady Byron was in town and called upon her, renew- 
ing their congenial conversations and cementing the friend- 
ship which had sprung into being at their first interview. 

Some days later, when Lady Bryon was able to leave her 
room, a family party consisting of Professor and Mrs. 
Stowe, their children and Mrs. Stowe's sister, Mrs. Perkins, 
went to luncheon with her and passed a most enjoyable 
day. Again, Mrs. Stowe, with her husband, and the son 
Henry, who so soon after met a watery grave at Dartmouth, 
spent an evening with the lady. Young Lord Ockham, 
Lady Byron's grandson and Henry Stowe were made friends, 
and talked of with pride by the mother and grandmother, 
in their mutual confidences. 

Some weeks later, Mrs. Stowe and Mrs. Perkins were 
going from London to Eversley to visit the Keverend 
Charles Kingsley. On their way, they stopped to take 
luncheon with Lady Byron at her summer residence on 
Ham Common, and by her request, returned there after 
a few days, as Lady Byron had asked for a special inter- 
view with Mrs. Stowe to discuss an important matter. 

It then transpired, that a cheap edition of.Byron's works 
was soon to be issued, accompanied with his biography, 
in which was given the story of his domestic life, in the 
version of his friends. It had been suggested to Lady 
Byron, that she ought to break the silence which she had 
maintained so long, and give to the public the vindication, 
which she held, in the facts of her reasons for separating 
from her husband. It was her desire to recount the whole 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 891 

history to a person of another country, and one entire]y out 
of the whole sphere of local and personal feelings, which 
must inevitably bias the judgment of one in the country, 
and station in life, in which the circumstances took place. 

She felt a grave responsibility to society for the truth, and 
it had become a serious question, whether she could permit 
these writings to gain influence over the popular mind, by 
giving a silent consent, to what she knew to be utter false- 
hoods. Lady Byron was then enfeebled physically by the 
disease, pulmonary consumption, which four years later 
terminated her life, but the time was auspicious, for it ap- 
peared to be one of " her well days,'' and she was able to 
tell the story without difficulty. 

Held by the bonds of womanly tenderness, sympathy and 
firm belief in the truth and perfect sanit} 7 of her friend, 
Mrs. Stowe " could not choose but hear " and she was much 
impressed and excited by the avowal and the responsibility 
which it had entailed upon her. She begged for two or 
three days in which to deliberate and form her opinion 
upon so distressing a question. Mrs. Stowe's decision was 
•chiefly influenced by her reverence and affection for Lady 
Byron, who seemed so frail, who had suffered so much, and 
stood at such a height above the comprehension of the 
coarse and common world, that to ask her to come forth 
from the sanctuary of her silence and plead her cause- 
before the public, would be like violating a shrine. 

She could not advise the desecration of a reserve, which, 
under the circumstances, had become almost holy, in its self- 
abnegation and angelic sweetness. 

After anxious consideration and conversation with her 
sister Mrs. Perkins, Mrs. Stowe at last wrote to Lady By- 



392 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ron, that while this act of justice did seem called for, and in 
some respects most desirable, it would involve so much that 
was painful to her (Lady Byron) that she considered that 
Lady Byron would be justifiable in leaving the facts to be 
published after her death. There was no special promise 
asked or given, that Mrs Stowe would do this, should it 
ever be necessary to defend the character of Lady Byron 
before the world, nor was her secrecy in the future, enjoined. 

With this confidence, Mrs. Stowe felt she had received a 
responsibility which she afterwards could not disown or 
shirk. Some thirteen years later, nine years after the death 
of Lady Byron, and Lord Byron had found Lethe drinking 
in forgetfulness of earthly sin and sorrow and resting 
in the grave, one Madam Guiccioli, already notorious as 
the companion of Byron in his last stage of moral degrada- 
tion, published a book of memoirs of him, which appeared to 
meet with great favor, and consisted of the story of the 
mistress versus the wife. This, Mrs. Stowe read with in- 
dignation which augmented and increased with further con- 
sideration, in the light of her own knowledge, of the wife 
and her story. 

"Blackwood" the old classic magazine of Great Britain; 
the defender of conservatism, of aristocracy, the paper of 
Lockhart, Wilson, Hogg, Walter Scott and a host of de- 
parted grandeurs — was deputed to usher into the world this 
book, which was acknowledged by prominent reviewers to 
be a mere mass of twaddle over which they could scarcely 
maintain their gravity, its sole claim to notice admitted to 
be its authorship, the same long-established and influential 
magazine giving it introduction and recommendation on that 
account. 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 393 

The reviewer proceeded to make it the occasion for, 
re-opening the controversy of Lord Byron with his wife, 
attacking her character in a terrible manner, putting the 
facts together as a lawyer might array them in pleading the 
cause of a wronged man who had been ruined in name, 
shipwrecked in life, and driven to an early grave, by the 
arts of a bad woman, one all the more despicable and mon- 
strous, that her malice was hidden under the cloak of relig- 
ion! 

The eloquent and cultured writer proceeded to say, " Lady 
Byron has been called 'The moral Clymtemnestra of her 
lord.' The moral Brinvilliers, would have been a truer 
designation." 

He further claimed, that Lord Byron's unfortunate mar- 
riage might have changed, not only his own destiny, but 
that of all England. He suggested that but for this, Lord 
Byron instead of wearing out his life in vice, and corrupting 
society by impure poetry, might at that time have been 
leading the counsels of the state and helping the onward 
movement of the world. He charged Lady Byron with for- 
saking her husband in time of worldly misfortune, with fab- 
ricating a destructive accusation of crime against him, and 
confirming this accusation by years of persistent silence, 
more guilty than open assertion.* 

The American woman who had been her trusted friend 
and ardent admirer, who felt that above all other women 
she was pure, self-abnegating, and terribly injured by her 
husband, read this language with amazement. It seemed to 
her brutal, and so unfair as to be unprecedented, to thus 

*A glance at a file of Blackwood for July, 1869, will show all of this, and much 
more which was indeed terrible for the friends of Lady Byron, a few of whom 
knew her deepest wrongs, to endure. 



39-t THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

publicly brand a virtuous lady of Christlike gentleness and 
purity of character with the name of the foulest of ancient, 
and most execrable of modern assassins, while Byron's 
mistress, a woman of no character and small mind, was 
taken by the hand by this important review. This attack 
seemed to call for the disclosure of the truth, however 
revolting. The facts could be no greater outrage to the 
sensibilities of the world than this accumulation of slander 
against an innocent woman ; that, incited by Byron in self- 
defense, transmitted to his friends to be continued with in- 
creasing malignity after his death and culminating in the 
publication of the Guiccioli book and this re-opening of the 
bitter controversy. Mrs. Stowe looked confidently for a 
conclusive refutation of Lady Byron's cause. 

No answer or announcement from any friend of Lady By- 
ron appeared. The article was promptly reproduced in the 
United States, in Littell's Living Age, and the Guiccioli 
book was reprinted in America, by as prominent a publish- 
ing house as Harper Brothers. 

It is denied that it attained any circulation worth consid- 
ering, either in this country or abroad, and Mrs. Stowe per- 
haps over-estimated its influence, as well as the trend of 
sympathy towards the adulterous connection which it 
vaunted, and which Blackwood so plausibly condoned. Let 
us also hope the permanent effects of the Byronic poetry, 
which Shelley characterized as the foremost of the " Satanic 
School," were not so important as she feared, still she must 
infer from facts, how strong a sympathy was felt in high 
places with the life and writings of the "moral leper" whom 
it was the fashion of the hour, to pity and excuse. 

Mrs. Stowe saw in a popular magazine, two long articles, 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 395 

both of which represented Lady Byron as a cold, malignant 
woman who had been her husband's ruin, the same arti- 
cles being so full of mis-statements as to astonish her. In 
fact, it was thus the knowledge of the book and the Black- 
wood article first came to her. Not long after a friend 
wrote to Mrs. Stowe " Will you, can you, reconcile it to your 
conscience to sit still and allow that mistress to slander 
that wife, — you, perhaps, the only one knowing the real 
facts, and able to set them forth ? " 

Mrs. Stowe still waited for a refutation of the slanderous 
publication, being aware that the facts of Lady Byron's 
reasons for leaving her husband, were known in various cir- 
cles in England. 

As no friend came to her defense, Mrs. Stowe decided, 
not without extreme reluctance, that it was her duty, to 
publish what Lady Byron had so impressively confided to 
her. She was at this time in impaired health, and was 
under treatment, with her husband who was suffering with 
a painful malady, at a celebrated private hospital in New 
York city. Her younger sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker, 
was her confidant and companion, and bears witness to the 
painful struggle which Mrs. Stowe passed through, but at last 
she dictated, from her couch, to this sister, who wrote as 
she directed, the disclosure which fell like a thunderbolt 
upon the literary and social world. 

In the article, which speedily raised a storm of discussion 
all over the reading world, Mrs. Stowe sarcastically reviewed 
the statement of Byron's wrongs which was going not only 
over Europe, but the length of the American continent, 
rousing new sympathy for him and "doing its best to bring 
the youth of America once more under the power of that 



396 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

brilliant and seductive genius from which it was hoped they 
had escaped." She remarked, that only the strictest moral- 
ists seemed to defend the wife. Gentler hearts " regarded her 
as a marble-hearted monster of correctness and morality, a 
personification of the law, unmitigated by the gospel." 

Mrs. Stowe outlined the facts which Lady Byron had 
given her, of the events of her courtship and married life 
(which are indeed interesting reading, and amply refute the 
charges made against Lady Byron, of impatience or heart- 
lessness), and in a terse paragraph which electrified the 
world, disclosed the special reason why Lady Byron, after 
more than a year of sorrowful remonstrance, left her erring 
husband. It was in these words. 

'"'From the height at which he might have been happy as the 
husband of a noble woman, he fell into the depths of a secret, 
adulterous intrigue, with a blood relation, so near in consan- 
guinity, that discovery must have been utter ruin and expulsion 
from civilized society. From henceforth, this damning secret 
became the ruling force in his life, holding him with a morbid fasci- 
nation, yet filling him with remorse and anguish and insane dread 
of detection." 

Mrs. Stowe proceeded to show how Byron, when he found 
the wife whom he had married in answer to the entreaties 
of his friends, who was to serve as a cloak to his intrigues 
and dissipations, could not be deceived nor cowed into sub- 
mission to his horrible infidelities, resolved to be rid of her. 

He therefore inflicted upon her every cruelty possible from 
a drunken roue to whose brutality was superadded the inven- 
tive ferocity of a devil, until, with a child a few weeks old, 
she left his house and returned to her father's home never to 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 397 

return, never during her life to make public her terrible 
injuries. Henceforth, she lived for the daughter who grew up 
inheriting her father's brilliant talents with all of his restless- 
ness and morbid sensibility. After her child's death, which 
followed a youthful career as a gay woman of fashion, Lady 
Byron devoted herself to wise philanthropies, inventing 
practical schools, managing with skill several institutions, 
which resulted in great benefit to artisans, seamstresses and 
other classes of laboring men and women, preserving always 
a silence, which in the light of the disclosure, appeared to 
have been not malignity, but Christian forbearance. 

There could be no well founded doubt of the truth of 
Lady Byron's story, except upon the supposition that she 
was insane; that being so long "wrapped in dismal think- 
ings" had made her mad. 

Mrs. Stowe, believed she was in her right mind, and gave 
unhesitating credence to the story. She had decided it was 
right to publish the story and she did it. Mrs. Stowe's 
sense of justice was through life, perhaps her strongest 
characteristic. When it fell to her to administer it, whether 
to the statesman, politicians and Christian people of the 
United States upon a constitutional wrong, or to the social 
world who were sympathizing with and falling under the 
influence of a man whom she knew to be false and unworthy 
to the core, she was inexorable and unbending as Fate, 
quite as stern and regardless of self as the figure who with 
bandaged eyes, holds the scales of good and evil balancing 
in her hand. 

The cloudburst of horrified deprecation, invective and 
personal abuse of the woman who had been brave enough 
to tell the disgusting story, fell simultaneously upon both 



398 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

continents, and a single week sent forth a hailstorm of 
publications upon the Byron mystery. 

Blackwood and the Quarterly Be view thundered forth 
vehement salvos against Mrs. Stowe, making every accusa- 
tion from falsehood to meddling, from ignorance to poor 
taste, and the Examiner, The Pall Mall Gazette, The Times, 
and hundreds of lesser organs, (for no one of the British 
journals felt itself too uninformed or inconsequential to 
take up the question) joined in surprise and indignation 
that an American woman should volunteer to disclose what 
Lady Byron's respected trustees had declined to make 
known. 

Maemillarfs came in for a share of the public execration, 
which, however under the unprecedented call for that num- 
ber of the Magazine, it appears they bore with equanimity. 
The press of the United States, at one and the same time 
expressed their amazement at Mrs. Stowe, at The Atlantic, 
and at everything, perhaps, more than at the author of 
" Don Juan," of " Parisina," of " Manfred," and the rest r 
which give abundant proof of the poet's perverted instincts, 
displaying in their motives a moral insanity which makes 
his wife's story credible. 

The New York Tribune discussed the controversy at 
length, trying to administer impartial justice to the memo- 
ries of Lord and Lady Byron, but few representatives of 
even the American press, said a word in extenuation of the 
principle which actuated Mrs. Stowe, or the judgment which 
permitted her action. Upon that point, the Saturday 
Review in an otherwise exceptionally fair article upon the 
Byron controversy, stated its opinion with clearness, using 
terms which could not be mistaken for flattery to the intel- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 399 

lectual abilities, judgment, taste or high motives of the 
author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." 

Mrs. Stowe, who had expected severe comment in certain 
foreign reviews, had not been prepared for the avalanche of 
adverse and unjust criticism that poured in upon her from 
American writers, who she thought should have trusted her 
judgment and right feeling. Upon one point they all 
agreed, which was in a demand for proof, a detailed ac- 
count of her interview, and a summary of her reasons for 
the disclosure. Friends implored a justification of herself. 
The solicitors of Lady Byron, of whom until then, Mrs. 
Stowe had had no knowledge, wrote a personal letter in- 
quiring by what authority she had published facts which 
were known to them, but which they had decided to 
suppress, and other calls which she could not ignore, came 
asking for reasons for her work, and proofs of the " True 
Story of Lady Byron.' 1 

As has been stated Mrs. Stowe was in impaired health, 
which, be it noted, she did not adduce as an apology for her 
disclosure, but afterwards mentioned as the cause of some 
minor inaccuracies, such as the misspelling of a name and 
miscalculating the period of the Byrons' married life by a 
few months, which were incident to her having to dictate 
the article. While she admitted to the critics, the inartis- 
tic effects of her astounding article as a literary production, 
she never for an instant, failed to stand by its statements 
and purpose. She soon published a card in the Hartford 
Courant saying that she had a more comprehensive state- 
ment in hand, which would be her complete Vindication of 
Lady Byron. It appeared early in 1870, being published 
by Fields, Osgood and Company, and was a " History of the 



400 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Byron Controversy from its Beginning in 1816 to the 
Present Time." 

No one can judge fairly of Mrs. Stowe's relation to the 
unpleasant affair, until this book has been carefully read. 

Without attempting to unravel the labyrinthine intrica- 
cies or discuss the contradictions of the maddening contro- 
versy, whose published details make a literature of its own 
it is our province to consider Mrs. Stowe's relation to the 
affair. As to whether the horrid story was true, a question 
which several of the British reviews, even while condemn- 
ing Mrs. Stowe's action yet decided in the affirmative, we 
have nothing to do, except so far as it involves her sincer- 
ity and high purpose. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe believed the truth of Lady 
Byron's statement as she believed in her own existence. 

It was fair to consider that if Lady Byron had any friends 
who had respect for her memory they would speak. 

As they did not, Mrs. Stowe decided she could not leave 
the false history which was thus created, to stand uncontra- 
dicted. She said in her book " Lady Byron Vindicated." 

"I claim for my countrymen and women our right to true history. 
For years, the popular literature has held up publicly before our 
eyes the facts as to this man and this woman, and called on us to 
praise or condemn. Let us have truth when we are called upon 
to judge. It is our right. There is no conceivable obligation on 
a human being greater than that of absolute justice. It is the 
deepest personal injury to an honorable mind to be made through 
misrepresentation, an accomplice in injustice. When a noble 
name is accused, any person who possesses truth which might 
clear it, and withholds that truth, is guilty of a sin against human 
nature and the inalienable claims of justice. I claim that I have 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 401 

not only a right, but an obligation to bring my solemn testimony 
upon this subject." 

The reviewers, some of the fairest of whom picked flaws 
and made criticisms so trivial as to scarcely do justice to 
their own comprehension of the great essentials of her man- 
ifesto, as well as the superficial readers of this generation, 
or the many who discuss the question from mere hearsay 
and blame Mrs. Stowe because they find the disclosure she 
made, revolting, should be reminded that she did not re-open 
the controversy. 

It was done by Blackwood's Magazine in July, 1869, in 
an article recommending the Guiccicoli book. 

While Mrs. Stowe had not been formally constituted the 
advocate of Lady Byron (who evidently expected that her 
trustees would see justice done her memory, having put the 
facts into their hands to use at discretion), she had confided 
the story of her injuries to Mrs. Stowe without any restric- 
tions, sure that her cause could be trusted to Mrs. Stowe's 
judgment and affection. The time came when Mrs. Stowe 
would have become an accomplice in injustice, had she with- 
held the knowledge confided to her. It should be considered 
that she was not, therefore, permitted by her strong moral 
sense, to preserve the silence which she would have preferred. 

The author of " Guenn " a writer of rare discrimination 
and force, has said of a similar responsibility, " I believe 
it would be a better place, this cowardly, false world, if a 
few rare souls should spurn restraint and speak out plainly 
what they think. What crimes are not committed in the 
name of tact, refinement, discretion, — what sins of mean- 
ness and falsehood ! " 

Mrs. Stowe did not volunteer to uncover the mass of 
26 



402 THE LIFE WOKK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

moral corruption whicli her disclosure opened to the mor- 
bid curiosity of the world, nor did she create or tolerate it, 
any more than she precipitated slavery upon the United 
States or advocated the Fugitive Slave Bill, of 1850. It 
was forced upon her by the writer who re-opened the con- 
troversy, making Byron only a lesser god, suffering from the 
slanders of his wife, and his mistress (the last one), the true 
soul-wife, whom he missed in his marriage. 

The eminent reviewer before referred to, who, said of Mrs. 
Stowe, " This is not the first time in Mrs. Stowe's literary 
career that her good intentions — that is, her weak judgment 
and passionate aud undisciplined temper — have sown a crop 
only to be watered with blood and tears," failed, very 
naturally, perhaps, to comprehend her high conscientious- 
ness, unworldly earnestness, honesty and far-sighted esti- 
mate of the relative value of mundane things. 

Who shall say that justice done to an innocent woman, 
may not counterbalance in the eternities, the moral degen- 
eration suffered by that class of humanity which gloated 
over the unpleasant details which were of necessity set forth? 

Shall we decide that the sum total of depravity, absorbed 
by the public, which, in consequence of her statement, was 
inundated by a stream of abomination and a literature of 
nastiness which is absolutely unparalleled in the records of 
human depravity and sin, was any greater, than that which 
for a lifetime, had saturated society, in Byron's slanders 
against virtue, his shameless exposure of the sanctities of 
his married life to a host of ribald fellows at the Noctes 
Ambrosianse Club and the pernicious influence of his im- 
moralities, as set to graceful verse ? 

To the baleful influence of his seductive poems he added 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 403 

the effect, direfully confusing to young and enthusiastic 
minds, of an injured genius, a beautiful sinner, whose fol- 
lies were pardonable, because of his gifts, and his wrongs. 

Mrs. Stowe's revelation, told of the perverted excess of a 
social sin, which was so instinctively revolting to human 
nature, that it carried its own antidote, and at one blow 
destroyed the glamour which Byron had contrived to throw 
about his sins, revealing him in all the unutterable loath- 
someness of his moral condition. Had these considerations 
not more than turned the scales, there was always abstract 
right against wrong, justice to be done, and Harriet Beecher 
Stowe was impelled to choose her course, even if for the 
time it was necessary to bear aspersion and perhaps leave 
this action behind her, as a blot upon her fair fame upon 
earth. 

It was greatness, to remove this principle from its worldly 
environment, and courage, to act conscientiously, with a 
premonition of the anguish she must inevitably endure. 
Mrs. Stowe suffered, walking with tears and bleeding feet 
among the sharp thorns of invective and misconstruction 
which sprang up with her seed of truth, but she never 
wavered, though carrying to her grave the memory of her 
wounds. 

A few years before her death, the writer, then failing to 
realize what a pain it had been to her, once referred to the 
subject in conversation. Her face flushed deeply, but she 
raised her clear eyes with a sad smile, saying, "Yes; it 
was a hard thing to do. What a storm the critics did 
raise about it. But I shall never be sorry I wrote it. It 
was right, and the devil and all his angels could not make 
me sorry." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

11 MY WIFE AND I ; OR HARRY HENDERSON'S HISTORY." A 
SERIAL IN "THE CHRISTIAN UNION." THE STORY OF A 
YANKEE BOY, WHO GOES TO COLLEGE, ADOPTS LITERATURE 
AS A PROFESSION IN NEW YORK, THE FRAMEWORK UPON 
WHICH TO HANG MANY INTERESTING DISCUSSIONS. " PINK 
AND WHITE TYRANNY." A SOCIETY NOVEL WITH AN 
ADMITTED MORAL. " PALMETTO LEAVES." PICTURESQUE 
AND SUGGESTIVE LETTERS FROM FLORIDA. " POGANUC 
PEOPLE." THE LAST IMPORTANT WORK OF THE AUTHOR 
OF " UNCLE TOM'S CABIN." AGAIN THE LOVES AND LIVES 
OF PLAIN NEW ENGLAND FOLK. MUCH OF THIS STORY 
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. AN INSTRUCTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE 
RELIGION ESTABLISHED BY LAW IN NEW ENGLAND. MRS. 
STOWE'S CHILDISH RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES. THE CON- 
VERSION OF ZEPH HIGGINS AT THE SCHOOL HOUSE MEET- 
ING. ONE OF THE MOST INTENSELY POWERFUL AND 
DRAMATIC SCENES EVER DEPICTED. THE CELEBRATION 
OF THE SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY OF HARRIET BEECHER 
STOWE. A GARDEN PARTY AT THE HOME OF HON. AND 
MRS. WILLIAM CLAFLIN AT NEWTONVILLE, NEAR BOSTON. 

At this period Mrs. Stowe's name was associated with 
that of her sister Catherine in the publication of a work 
called "The American "Woman's Home," but we are 
informed she was able to write very few of the pages which 
pleasantly discussed domestic economy. 
404 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 405 

In 1870, Mrs. Stowe began a serial story in Tlie Christian 
Union, to which her favorite brother had transferred his 
interest, called "My wife and I, or Harry Henderson's 
History." 

It opened in a manner particularly felicitous, showing the 
author's progress in graceful expression and lightness of 
touch, in which she acknowledged that her aim was not so 
much the making of a story, as to promulgate certain ideas 
which such a vehicle enabled her to ventilate. 

In the history of Harry Henderson, a plain Yankee boy 
from the mountains of New Hampshire, through his child- 
hood and youth, serious love affairs, and experiences as a 
Benedict, and a citizen of New York city, all the topics of the 
time were freely discussed. There is much that is tender 
and moving in the writer's sympathetic appreciation of the 
difficulties of " being a boy," and many reflections which 
emanate from her childish memories of her own father and 
mother, and brothers and sisters ; as, for instance, when she 
describes the close and confidential companionship of Harry 
Henderson's parents, we receive an impression of the intel- 
lectual relations of her own father and mother. 

u With her he discussed the plans of his discourses, and at her 
dictation changed, improved,altered and added ; and under the brood- 
ing influence of her mind, new and finer traits of tenderness and 
spirituality pervaded his character and his teachings. In fact, 
my father once said to me, " She made me by her influence." 

See Mrs. Stowe's estimate of real poverty, and the 
greatest evil following straightened means. 

" But my father and mother, though living on a narrow income, 
were never really poor. The chief evil of poverty is the crushing 



406 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

of ideality out of life — the taking away its poetry and substitu- 
ting hard prose ; — and this with them was impossible. My father 
loved the work he did, as the artist loves his painting and the 
sculptor his chisel. A man needs less money when he is doing 
only what he loves to do — what, in fact, he must do, — pay or no 

pay. 

" In the midst of our large family, of different ages, of vigorous 
growth, of great individuality and forcefulness of expression, my 
mother's was the administrative power. My father habitually re- 
ferred everything to her, and leaned on her advice with a childlike 
dependence. She read the character of each, she mediated be- 
tween opposing natures ; she translated the dialect of different 
sorts of spirits to each other. In a family of young children, 
there is a chance for every sort and variety of natures and for 
natures whose modes of feeling are as foreign to each other, as those 
of the French and the English. It needs a common interpreter, 
who understands every dialect of the soul, thus to translate differ- 
ences of individuality into a common language of love." 

Her estimate of the unselfish child love which a boy 
often gives an infantile playmate is particularly sweet, and 
her idea of its worthy reflex influence, tender and delicate 
in the extreme. 

Again, she whimsically sets forth one of the theological 
encounters which were so familiar to her whole life. 

" Uncle Jacob was a church member in good standing, but in 
the matter of belief he was somewhat like a high-mettled horse in 
a pasture, — he enjoyed once in a while having a free argumenta- 
tive race with my father all round the theological lot. Away he 
would go in full career, dodging definitions, doubling and turning 
with elastic dexterity, and sometimes ended by leaping over all the 
fences, with most astounding assertions, after which he would 
calm down, and gradually suffer the theological saddle and bridle 






UNCLE tom's cabin. 407 

to be put on him and go on with edifying paces, apparently much 
refreshed by his metaphysical capers." 

She testifies unmistakably in favor of co-education, and 
the value of preserving religious exercises as a daily regime 
at college. Her ideas upon this point are worthy of 
notice. 

" Now it is one peculiarity of the professors of the Christian 
religion that they have not, at least of late years, arranged their 
system of education with any wise adaptation to having their 
young men come out of it Christians. In this they differ from 
many other religionists. The Brahmins educate their sons so that 
they shall infallibly become Brahmins ; the Jews so that they shall 
infallibly be Jews ; the Mohammedans so that they shall be Mo- 
hammedans ; but the Christians educate their sons so that nearly 
half of them turn out unbelievers — professors of no religion at all 

"There is a book which the Christian world unite in declaring 
to be an infallible revelation from Heaven. It has been the judg- 
ment of critics that the various writings in this volume excel other 
writings in point of mere literary merit as much as they do in 
purity and elevation of the moral sentiment. Yet it is remark- 
able that the critical study of these sacred writings in their origi- 
nal tongues is not in most of our Christian colleges considered as 
an essential part of the education of a Christian gentleman, while 
the heathen literature of Greece and Rome is treated as something 
indispensable, and to be gained at all hazards." 

The recent discussion upon the desirability of a course 
of Bible study as a means not only of religious training 
but critical and scientific culture as well, in which T. T. 
Munger, Newton M. Hall and Samuel Hart have taken a 
prominent part, and the adoption of such a study as a new 



408 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

feature in the curriculum of Dartmouth and other colleges, 
testify to the wisdom and practicability of Mrs. Stowe's 
suggestion, made twenty years ago. 

Her view of theological creeds, shows the stand she had 
taken early in life and found comforting to the end. 

" You see, as to the theologies, I think it has been well said 
that the Christian world just now is like a ship that's tacking. It 
has lost the wind on one side and not quite got it on the other. 
The growth of society, the development of new physical laws, and 
this modern scientific rush of the human mind is going to modify 
the man-made theologies and creeds ; some of them will drop 
away just as the blossom does when the fruit forms, but Christ's 
religion will be just the same as ever — His words will not pass 
away." 

Mrs. Stowe makes Harry Henderson a journalist and 
an author, and thus opens a new field for her discussion. 
She demonstrates the moral responsibility of authorship, 
and the effervescent personality of Jim Fellows, the rat- 
tling reporter and book critic, w r hom we recognize as 
nearly related to Frank Russell, our sprightly acquaintance 
in "Dred," and Bob Stephens, Christopher Crowfield's 
bright son-in-law, is here intensified into one of the best 
characters she has ever drawn. His exposition of the 
methods and moving springs of journalism, and critical 
decisions upon literary works, must indeed have been 
decidedly quickening to the public pulse, and have caused 
some calloused consciences to twitch in an uncomfortable 
manner. 

But now we begin to smile affectionately at the writer 
who has shown such Herculean strength upon great ques- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 409 

tions, for such trustfulness of the great metropolitan world 
as she evinces in the liberties allowed to her characters r 
would invite every species of social impositions, many of 
them perhaps more serious than any degree of drawing-room 
"buncoism " 3'et developed. 

Harry Henderson meets his future wife in a Fifth Avenue 
stage, makes her acquaintance in a surprisingly unconven- 
tional manner, one which it may be conjectured the author 
would not have wholly approved outside of her manuscript, 
and without more ado than a polite word, accompanies her 
home, shielding her by his umbrella from the rain, and as a 
reward receives an unhesitating invitation to call ! It was 
before the days of American chaperones, but even the more 
lax forms of society in that day, would hardly seem to have 
quite sanctioned the immediate confidence given to the hero. 

There follows a glimpse of social life from the same very 
unworldly standpoint, but her young men and women are 
good, sound characters, who talk well, so well that we 
hardly believe in them. But of necessity they must do 
this in a work where they are employed as forms upon 
which to hang the ethical arguments, which are so exe- 
crated by the modern school of critics. There is no dis- 
guise about these pills of wisdom. True, they are pleas- 
antly sugar-coated, but they are openly administered, with 
a spoonful of diversion to carry them down. And they are 
extremely wholesome and beneficial. 

Ida Yan Arsdel, the young woman philosopher, is a good 
character and says and does very sensible and stimulating 
things, embodying Mrs. Stowe's opinions upon the best 
possibilities for young women, who do not marry. 

In the introduction to " The Illuminati " we find descrip- 



410 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

tions and a discussion which resulted in considerable amuse- 
ment to the public, and some heart-burnings among near 
friends of the author. Many readers thought they saw in the 
character of Mrs. Stella Cerulean, — Mrs. Stowe's own sis- 
ter — Mrs. Hooker. She is set forth as " a brilliant woman 
beautiful in person, full of genius, full of enthusiasm, full of 
self-confidence, the most charming of talkers, the most fas- 
cinating of women" who "had one simple remedy for the 
reconstruction of society, about whose immediate applica- 
tion she saw not the slightest difficulty," which was by giv- 
ing the affairs of the world, forthwith into the hands of 
women ; who felt that those who claimed merely equality 
for women were behind the age, women being the superior, 
the divine sex. 

This lady had recently allied herself with the woman suf- 
frage movement, and one of its leading women, of whom 
for specially aggravating reasons, Mrs. Stowe and most of 
the friends of Henry Ward Beecher, strongly disapproved. 
But this interpretation, which naturally followed the fact of 
the estrangement between herself and this sister, Mrs. Stowe 
afterwards disavowed. It was, however, a strong presenta- 
tion of the extreme views then held and promulgated by 
a certain class of hasty reformers, and a source of deep satis- 
faction to many conservative readers. 

The depiction of Miss Audacia Dangereyes who marches 
into the office of Harry Henderson and Jim Fellows, suc- 
cessfully enforcing a subscription to her paper, could point 
to none other than Victoria Woodhull, and the scene shows 
the results of notions such as she held, carried to their 
logical extreme. The account of her interview with the 



U^CLE tom's cabin. 411 

sprightly and imperturbable Jim Fellows, is richly humorous 
and entertaining. 

The sketch of Bolton, the noble, finely educated, home 
loving fellow, whose life was darkened by an insane appetite 
for stimulants, is drawn from the wells of bitter knowledge 
and deep feeling, and appeals most powerfully to those who 
know by terrible experience of the bondage of body and soul 
into which human nature can fall, through this unnatural 
appetite. 

The progress of the hero and pretty bird-like Eva Yan 
Arsdel, from admiration to friendship and love, with the 
various questions upon mercenary marriages which are 
induced by the existence of a rich rival, and the relation of 
social life to church affairs, permit all manner of discussion. 
In the description of the match game of croquet, which con- 
siderably advances Harry Henderson's love affairs, we have 
a bit of writing as fine, in its small way, as the Chariot 
Kace or the Naval Encounter of the slave-manned galleys, 
of Ben Hur. 

The loss of Papa Van Arsdel's money, gives Eva to 
Harry, her true lover, and their marriage follows, with the 
home-making in which Jim Fellows is the most competent 
and ubiquitous assistant, and the story closes. 

il My wife and I " and its sequel, " We and Our Neigh- 
bors," which continue the characters under new conditions, 
and the discussions of those changing experiences, are not 
great works, though they are full of homely wisdom which 
perhaps may avail as much as brilliant genius, in the pro- 
gress of civilization. In these latter books, the weightier 
problems of life are left, and the writer drops into delight- 



412 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

ful disquisitions upon every-day possibilities for good and 
pleasantness. 

The burning inspiration of the earlier works of the 
author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," glows tenderly now in 
the evening shadows, her stern opposition to great wrongs 
is softened and sweetened into less intensity in these essays 
upon social life. So, the pungent sharpness of the green age 
of the best fruit, is by time, matured and softened, taking 
on new and delicious flavors which are the fitting charm of 
waning vigor. These books were published by J. B. Ford 
and Co., in 1871 and 1873. 

"Pink and White Tyranny," a story also to be classed 
among Mrs. Stowe's minor works, was published by Roberts 
Brothers of Boston, in the year 1871. It was termed a society 
novel and admitted to have a moral. As the title indicates, 
it is descriptive of the absolute power, seriously misused, 
of a pretty, frivolous woman, not only upon her unfortunate 
husband, but over society, which agreed that it was easier 
to succumb to her petulant sway, than to oppose her. 

The heroine is one of Mrs. Stowe's butterfly women, and 
this time is a consistent character, full of whims and caprices 
which spring from unadulterated selfishness, which the pret- 
tiness and coquetry of the little sinner do not excuse, though 
her beauty and shallowness sufficiently account for her con- 
duct. She comes through a career of flirtation, which though 
somewhat modified by modern restrictions, is quite possible 
in our society, to a marriage which is a natural result, when 
a great hearted, unsophisticated, wealthy, young man from 
a country town, comes in contact with a calculating and fin- 
ished coquette. 

Through different phases and experiences of social exis- 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 413 

tence in a country town of Massachusetts, a season at New- 
port, and some festivities in New York, we are led with the 
frail heroine, and the companionship of her friends, the 
Follingsbees, whose vulgarity and pretentiousness are 
cleverly shown, until her home and her husband are 
neglected, and poor John Seymour turns to his sister for 
consolation, eventually rinding in his child, the comfort 
he has missed in the frivolous and heartless wife. 

It is forcibly set down, that in spite of his wrongs, John 
Seymour bears with the spirit becoming a man, his disap- 
pointment in life, and the petty annoyances which amount 
to tyranny in his wife, accepting his destiny, with no idea 
of escaping from it, because he took his pretty wife as it 
has transpired " for worse." We quote the author's moral — 

" We have brought our story up to this point. We informed 
our readers in the beginning that it was not a novel, but a story 
with a moral ; and, as people pick all sorts of strange morals out of 
stones, we intend to put conspicuously into our story exactly what 
the moral of it is. 

" Well, then, it has been very surprising to us to see in these 
our times that some people, who really at heart have the interest 
of women upon their minds, have been so short-sighted and reck- 
less as to clamor for an easy dissolution of the marriage-contract, 
as a means of righting their wrongs. Is it possible that they do 
not see that this is a liberty which, if once granted, would always 
tell against the weaker sex ? If the woman who finds that she 
has made a mistake, and married a man unkind or uncongenial, 
may, on the discovery of it, leave him and seek her fortune with 
another, so also may a man. And what will become of women 
like Lillie, when the first gilding begins to wear off, if the man 
who has taken one of them shall be at liberty to cast her off and 



414 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

seek another ? Have we not enough now of miserable, broken- 
winged butterflies, that sink down, down, down into the mud of 
the street ? But are women-reformers going to clamor for having 
every woman turned out helpless, when t«he man who has married 
her and made her a mother, discovers that she has not the pow- 
er to interest him and to help his higher spiritual development ? It 
was because woman is helpless and weak, and because Christ was 
her great Protector, that he made the law of marriage irrevocable. 
Whosoever putteth away his wife causeth her to commit adultery. 
If the sacredness of the marriage-contract did not hold, if the 
Church and all good men and all good women did not uphold it 
witli their might and main, it is easy to see where the career of 
many women like Lillie would end. Men have the power to re- 
flect before the choice is made ; and that is the only proper time 
for reflection. But, when once marriage is made and consum- 
mated, it should be as fixed a fact as the laws of nature. And they 
who suffer under its stringency should suffer as those who endure 
for the public good. 'He that sweareth to his own hurt, and 
changeth not, he shall enter into the tabernacle of the Lord.' " 

As usual, Harriet Beech er Stowe spoke for the enduring 
things of this life, and against the ephemeral ideas which, 
come and go with every decade, sometimes indeed appear- 
ing to possess qualities which answer to reason, and seem 
to be confirmed by the logic of many instances, but which, 
end, by receding to the background before the evident good 
to the greatest number, which Heaven-ordained laws and 
the facts of every-day life, are seen to demonstrate. 

" Pink and White Tyranny " is written off-hand, and is 
full of the disillusions of the author's entrance into the 
story, in various philosophical observations to the reader. 
But we have learned to expect this from Mrs. Stowe and 
are always glad to see her thrust her head from behind the 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 415 

scenes and explain the play. Dickens had a way of stop- 
ping to pet his characters in the most artless manner, and 
Mrs. Stowe not only does this, but takes the reader into her 
confidence upon all questions, in a way that would be sur- 
prising, were it not so cordially done that it appears to be 
quite the proper thing, if a little unconventional. 

Under the suggestive and attractive title of " Palmetto 
Leaves " was published in 1873, by (James E. Osgood k Co., of 
Boston), a collection of Florida letters written by Mrs. Stowe 
from her plantation at Mandarin, which had appeared in 
The Christian Union. A southern writer recently stated 
that her letters from her home upon the St. John's river, 
upon orange growing in Florida, as well as the open- 
ing for successful market gardening there, brought thou- 
sands of people to the state. She wrote of a " Flowery 
January," a " Water Coach and a Kide In It," " Mag- 
nolia " and " Yellow Jessamines ; " of " Florida for In- 
valids," and " Swamps and Orange Trees " in so vivid and 
picturesque language that thousands of readers felt and 
gratified a deep xonging, for the soft atmosphere and luscious 
fruits and dazzling flowers of the South-land. 

In answer to hundreds of letters which poured in upon 
her at Mandarin, she also wrote of more practical themes 
such as "Buying Land in Florida." " Our Experience in 
Crops " and " The Laborers of the South " in her own in- 
imitable and instructive style. This southern home was 
the romance of her mature life, the haven of her desires, 
which after a few weeks of frost and snow each year, would 
not be denied, and by January the family were usually en 
route for the winter home in the summer land, upon the 
silver St. Johns river. 



416 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

In 1873 Mrs. Stowe prepared a set of sketches of women 
in Sacred History. It was a superb volume, which, in its 
plainest binding, sold for six dollars, and was illustrated 
with sixteen chromo lithographs, after paintings by 
Eaphael, Batoni, Baacler, Vernet, Delaroche, Portaels, Good- 
all, Koehler, Landeile, Merle, Devodeux, Vernet-Le- 
comte and Boulanger. It was a new departure in the his- 
tory of book illustration, and its publishers, J. B. Ford & 
Co., of New York, were justly proud of the enterprise. 
The subjects treated were: 1, Sarah, the Princess; 2, 
Hagar, the Slave; 3, Eebekah, the Bride; 4, Leah and 
Eacbael. These were selected from the Patriarchal Ages. 

Those of the National Period were: 5, Miriam, Sister 
of Moses; 6, Deborah, the Prophetess; 7, Delilah, the 
Destroyer; 8, Jeptha's Daughter; 9, Hannah, the Praying 
Mother; 10, Ruth, the Moabitess; 11, The Witch of 
Endor; 12, Queen Esther: 13, Judith, the Deliverer. 

The women of the Christain Era were: 14, Mary, the 
Mythical Madonna; 15, Mary, the Mother of Jesus; 16, 
The Woman of Samaria; 17, The Daughter of Herodias ; 
18, Mary Magdalene ; 19, Martha and Mary. 

Mrs. Stowe's affection for the Bible and its grand teach- 
ings, no less than her education and mental characteristics, 
made her peculiarly fitted to bring these historic characters 
out of the false and unnatural light in which they have 
appeared to many, showing them as real flesh and blood, 
human beings calling forth an interest and sympathy which 
is seldom felt for those who lived in those far-off times. 

The book in its original form was so successful, it was 
thought well to enlarge the plan, and it was therefore put 
forth in quarto form in twenty -five parts, illustrated 




The "Winter Home at Mandarine, Fla. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 417 

with the original sixteen chromo lithographs and nine more. 
The text also was enlarged by the introduction of selected 
poems bearing upon the subjects, from well-known writers. 

Then, later, when this large and expensive work had had 
its natural course, the book was published in smaller form 
and called " Bible Heroines." The sale reached some- 
thing like 50,000 copies. 

Another work of religious interest was shortly after 
compiled by Mrs. Stowe. 

It was entitled " Footsteps of the Master," and consisted 
of meditations upon the Life of Christ with appropriate 
poems, carols and hymns, original and selected. 

It showed the author to be a devout student of theologi- 
cal lore and in its arrangement, in the order of the Church 
Festivals of the Christian Year, testified to her preference 
for the Anglican observances. 

She had become attached to the Episcopal Church? 
largely through the influence of her son-in-law, and found a 
peculiar beauty and usefulness in its ceremonials. 

This volume was also published by J. B. Ford and Co. 
having a good sale. 

After a period of some years of waning activity, Mrs. 
Stowe began the writing of her last story, " Poganuc Peo- 
ple." With it practically ended her remarkable literary 
career, which extended over twenty-five years of her mature 
life, and comprised more force and originality than the 
work of any other American woman. In the books just 
preceding the religious works above referred to, Mrs. Stowe 
had been upon unfamiliar ground, or one might say, 
promulgating themes that were not indigenous to the soil 
from which sprang her great " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 



418 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

"The Minister's Wooing," "The Pearl of Orr's Island" 
and "Old Town Folks." These must remain her distin- 
guishing successes, when her other books are forgotten. 

To this list of creations, which carry inherent strength 
and vitality in their very atmosphere, evincing a genius 
which George Sand described as " pure, penetrating and 
profound, one which fathoms the recesses of the human 
soul," she was about to add another, her last important work, 
embracing her own preferred themes, and those which took 
firmest hold upon the sympathies of her readers. As she 
began in the Mayflower, the first success of her girlhood, 
so she ended, in " Poganuc People," reproducing the loves 
and lives of New England folk, illuminating and throwing 
in relief as no other writer has done, the amusing pecu- 
liarities and the pure worth of homely character, which 
pertained to the immediate descendants of the Puritans. 

" Poganuc People " returns to Litchfield, as the thoughts 
and memories of age turn again to scenes and impressions 
of childhood, and the story is largely autobiographical. 
We are again led into an old-fashioned kitchen of seventy 
years ago, and see through the eyes of an observant and 
sensitive child, the kind homeliness of " Nabby " the young 
woman who " helped " the minister's wife, and feel some- 
thing of the interest which went out from the childish 
heart towards the festivities which were going on at that 
Christmas season at the Episcopal church, from which she 
was tacitly forbidden by her father, who was true to his 
Presbyterian principles. 

The author's discussion of the state of religious affairs in 
Poganuc, affords an instructive idea of the condition of the 
church which was in existence in New England, and particu- 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 419 

larly in Connecticut, at this time. It is a picture that holds 
much that is properly a source of pride to Americans, for 
though it has of late become the fashion to pick flaws in 
the regime of the Pilgrim fathers, it is only little minds 
that can underrate the vitalizing force with which their 
system of church and state, imbued every character. 

"The Episcopal Church in New England in the early days was 
emphatically a root out of dry ground, with as little foothold in 
popular sympathy as one of those storm-driven junipers, that the 
east wind blows all aslant, has in the rocky ledges of Cape Cod. 
The soil, the climate, the atmosphere, the genius, and the history 
of the people were all against it. Its forms and ceremonies were 
all associated with the persecution which drove the Puritans out 
of England and left them no refuge but the rock-bound shores of 
America. It is true that in the time of Governor Winthrop the 
colony of Massachusetts appealed with affectionate professions to 
their Mother, the Church of England, and sought her sympathy 
and her prayers ; but it is also unfortunately true that the forms 
of the Church of England were cultivated and maintained in 
New England by the very party whose intolerance and tyranny 
brought on the Revolutionary war. 

" All the oppressive governors of the colonies were Episcopa- 
lians, and in the Revolutionary struggle the Episcopal Church was 
very generally on the Tory side ; hence, the New Englanders 
came to have an aversion to its graceful and beautiful ritual and 
forms, for the same reason that the free party in Spain and Italy 
now loath the beauties of the Romish Church, as signs and sym- 
bols of tyranny and oppression. 

" Congregationalism — or, as it was then called by the common 
people, Presbyterianism — was the religion established by law in 
New England. It was the State Church. Even in Boston in its 
colonial days, the King's Chapel and Old North were only dis- 



420 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

senting churches, unrecognized by the State, but upheld by the 
patronage of the colonial governors who were sent over to them 
from England. For a long time after the Revolutionary war the 
old regime of the State Church held undisputed sway in New Eng- 
land. There was the one meeting-house, the one minister, in 
every village. Every householder was taxed for the support of 
public worship, and stringent law and custom demanded of every 
one a personal attendance on Sunday at both services. If any 
defaulter failed to put in an appearance it was the minister's duty 
to call promptly on Monday and know the reason why. There 
was no differences of religious opinion. All that individualism 
which now raises a crop of various little churches in every country 
village was sternly suppressed. For many years only members of 
churches could be eligible to public offices ; Sabbath-keeping was 
enforced with more than Mosaic strictness, and New England jus- 
tified the sarcasm which said that they had left the Lords-Bishops 
to be under the Lords-Brethren. In those days if a sectarian 
meeting of Methodists or Baptists, or an unseemly gathering of 
any kind, seemed impending, the minister had only to put on his 
cocked hat, take his gold- headed cane and march down the village 
street, leaving his prohibition at every house, and the thing was 
so done, even as he commanded. 

" In the very nature of things such a state of society could not 
endure. The shock that separated the nation from a king and 
monarchy, the sense of freedom and independence, the hardihood of 
thought which led to the founding of a new civil republic, were fatal 
to all religious restraint. Even before the Revolutionary war 
there were independent spirits that chafed under the constraint of 
clerical supervision, and Ethan Allen advertised his farm and 
stock for sale, expressing his determination at any cost to get out 
of ' this old holy State of Connecticut.' 

" It was but a little while after the close of the war that estab- 
lished American independence that the revolution came which 






UNCLE tom's cabin. 421 

broke up the State Church and gave to every man the liberty of 
* signing off/ as it was called, to any denomination that pleased 
him. Hence arose through New England churches of all names. 
The nucleus of the Episcopal Church in any place was generally] 
some two or three old families of ancestral traditions in its favor, 
who gladly welcomed to their fold any who, for various causes, 
were discontented with the standing order of things. Then, too, 
there came to them gentle spirits, cut and bleeding by the sharp 
crystals of doctrinal statement, and courting the balm of devo- 
tional liturgy and the cool, shadowy indefiniteness of more aesthet- 
ic forms of worship. Also, any one that for any cause had a 
controversy with the dominant church took comfort in the power 
of ' signing off' to another. In those days, to belong to no 
nhurch was not respectable, but to sign off to the Episcopal 
Church was often a compromise that both gratified self-will and 
saved one's dignity ; and, having signed off, the new convert was 
obliged, for consistency's sake, to justify the step he had taken by 
doing his best to uphold the doctrine and worship of his chosen 
church." 

The meeting of the village politicians in " the store," the 
Doctor's sermon against the Popish observance of Christmas 
day, Mr. Coan's answer, Election Day in Poganuc, and the 
description of the daily arrival of the stage coach, are a 
series of creations which have become classic, having only 
one or two successful imitators in all the company of 
American writers. 

Hiel Jones the stage driver is unmistakably a New Eng- 
land Yankee, and one as well drawn, and deservedly popu- 
lar, as Sam Lawson. He emphatically belonged to a social 
and civic condition now many years gone by, but the pre- 
servation of this, his "counterfeit presentiment " is a histor- 
ical boon to generations yet to come, who will have lived 



422 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

too late, however to have the thorough belief in his person- 
ality, that comes to readers of to-day. 

Hiel's courtship of spirited Nabby Higgins is vastly 
humorous and entertaining, and little Dolly's entrance into 
refined society among the dignitaries of Poganuc, shows the 
social condition of what composed the aristocracy of New 
England. A most worthy ascendancy of the fittest, it ap- 
pears, though not in the least derogating from the honest 
common sense and native ability, of the less cultured citi- 
zens of the town. 

An irresistible bit of humor in a subsequent chapter 
entitled " The Puzzle of the Town." This lay in so im- 
portant a question as the situation of the school house. Its 
site was an inconvenient and unpleasant one, but it had 
been thus far impossible to obtain the unanimous vote of 
the citizens to move it to a more desirable place. Zeph 
Higgins, evidently a first cousin to "Uncle Lot" is doubt- 
less one of the strongest depictions of the author who has 
presented to us so many clear cut and distinctive personali- 
ties. While earnestly desiring that the school house should 
be moved, he always managed through his unaccountable 
perversity, to defeat any measures taken to secure that end. 
To the intense amusement of the reader, Zeph Higgins at last 
resolves to take the affair into his own hands, and with his 
" boys " and several pairs of oxen, raises the school house 
from its foundations to his great sled, and moves it to the 
spot which every one prefers, thus settling the question, 
which he alone, has for years kept open. 

Summer days in Poganuc, the excitement and patriotic 
burnings of the Fourth of July, the approach of dreamy au- 
tumn and later frosts, and the fascination and exhilarating 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 423 

joy of going a-chestnutting, all reflect scenes of Harriet 
Beecher's early youth and have a special charm and pathos 
in this last story. 

The "apple bee" and the "wood spell" are retrospective 
views of the occasions in Lyman Beecher's household. 

We all know the graphic power of Harriet Beech er 
Stowe, when dwelling upon themes which thoroughly en- 
gaged her sympathies. She has never failed when thus 
enlisted, to produce in the reader the emotions of pity, an- 
ger, or even hatred in the intensest degree. No less power- 
fully could she move at will the springs of tears or smiles, 
of overwhelming enthusiasm and uplifting joy, over fiery 
human experience which left pure gold in the place where 
had been a large admixture of dross. With all Mrs. 
Stowe's severe criticism of Theological doctrines, it must be 
noted that she never exhibited any of the sarcasm of relig- 
ion which so seriously taints much modern fiction. It 
was a question she could not treat lightly, and though deal- 
ing a terrible blow at the dogmatism and austerity of the 
Puritans, she never failed to uphold and glorify the beauty 
of Christianity, in both spiritual and temporal lights. 

Eeligious "revivals" have come to be regarded with a 
sort of tolerance by a large portion of intelligent moralists. 

Even many people who consider themselves Christians, 
mildly deprecate the excitement and emotional upheavals 
which pertain to the stated periods, when mortals are made 
to realize in a special manner, their sinfulness and spiritual 
shortcomings. But it indeed must be a calloused heart 
which can read Mrs. Stowe's story of a revival in Poganuc, 
with its bearings upon diverse minds and different individ- 
ualities of the parish, without feeling that this system had 



424 THE LIFE WORK OF THE. AUTHOR OF 

its beneficent influence, one which cannot be under-estimated 
without evincing considerable flippancy in the mind of the 
objector. 

No one can read without emotion, the history of Zeph 
Higgins and the terrible discipline which he endured. He 
was a self-willed man, who considered all ceremonial relig- 
ious observances as effeminate demonstrations, who rebelled 
at all ecclesiastical authority, who found any reverential 
attitude or words irksome to his perverse, ungraceful 
nature ; who had a Spartan contempt for anything aesthetic, 
and all the scorn of beauty and cultivated expression which 
characterized certain rough stages of New England life. 

He had quarreled with a friend, a fellow church member, 
and had forsworn on this account the church. He was one 
who cleaved to a quarrel with the tenacity and devotion, 
which we recognize as one of the strange problems of our 
human nature. He hugged and nursed his wrath as closely 
as if it made him happy, instead of embittering his very life 
blood. 

Zeph Higgins found his ideal of all that was lovely, in his 
wife. When she gathered her children around her and 
went to church to pray for them and for him, he kept si- 
lence, because she, of all the others upon earth, was the only 
being he did not instinctively oppose. Mrs. Higgins, after a 
life of hard work and sacrifice, became ill, and after some 
weeks of sickness, died. The struggles and rebellion of the 
hard man, who having not the grace to accept blessings 
gratefully, lacked still more conspicuously the patience to 
bear with trouble, come home to the reader with crushing 
force, and one can with difficulty read through the pages 
which tell of the inevitable approach of death, and the 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 425 

stricken husband's wildly useless and miserable rebellion. 

Will you merely read of a funeral in the old times ? 
Then take some less powerful writer in hand. This one 
you must perforce attend, if you read. You feel the strange 
stillness, smell the close air, see through the gloom of the 
shrouded windows, the white wrappings which envelop 
the furniture and pictures. You hear through the ominous 
silence, the ticking of the kitchen clock, and hear the hoarse 
whispers of the " manager." 

Then the solemn tones of the minister's voice as he 
reads and prays, and the quavering voices of the singers 
who put their heads together for an instant as they try 
to catch the key-note which is given under the breath of the 
leader. Then the old funeral hymn, " China," which has 
added new pangs to life and death in its mournful move- 
ment, seeming often an exquisite refinement of cruelty 
to the wrung hearts of the mourners, and all who must 
contemplate the end of this existence. 

The going out of the coffin in the more or less clumsy 
hands of the bearers; their shuffling steps in the passage; 
the departure of the procession of vehicles to the last resting 
place; the knots of friends who remain to talk over the 
personal affairs of the bereaved family; the twos and threes 
of men in their best clothes who stand in the yard waiting 
for the women to go home ; all come with vivid distinct- 
ness before the mind, and as long as the writer wills, we 
are spell bound. 

The author gives her childish religious experience in the 
chapter called "Dolly at the Wicket Gate," and most ten- 
derly is it done. 



426 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Header, are you "principled against revivals?" Then 
cease to follow the story here, for you will witness one in 
all its aspects, and much against your will perhaps, be 
wrought upon as if you verily heard the preacher's voice 
and felt the silent influences of the occasion. Zeph Hig- 
gins again becomes the centre of interest. His unlovely 
desolation, his fretful misery and rebellious sorrow have 
served to almost deprive him of the sympathy of his family 
and friends ; the sympathy which he so needs and longs for 
and, as usual, perversely shuts away. Zeph has become 
specially intolerable, as he is now debating with himself 
whether he will take the first step towards reconciliation 
with his church, by going to the prayer meeting which is to 
be held in the school house near by. 

In the scene that follows, one of the greatest Mrs. Stowe 
ever created, there is all of the realism of the modern school, 
with a spirit and subtle atmosphere pervading the painting, 
which lifts it into the sublime. Few representations in 
literature are more intensely dramatic than the description 
of this meeting in a New England school house. It pro- 
ceeds to a climax, ever-growing in feeling, as poor cross- 
grained, contrary, Zeph Higgins, now broken and despair- 
ing in his grief rises to confess his faults, declares himself 
struck down by the Lord, and that he cannot be resigned. 

His concluding words, "I ain't a Christian, and I can't be, 
and I shall go to hell at last, and sarve me right." call no 
attention to his quaintness of verbal expression, one is too 
much with him for that, but they do show in their spirit, 
that having come to this confession, he is at last setting 
himself right with his own soul ; and that the next step, that 
of adjusting differences with his neighbors and becoming 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 427 

submissive to a Higher Power, will the easier follow. Let 
the author finish the chapter. 

" And Zeph sat down, grim and stony, and the neighbors looked 
one on another in a sort of consternation. There was a terrible 
earnestness in those words which seemed to appall every one and 
prevent any from uttering the ordinary common-places of religious 
exhortation. For a few moments the circle was as silent as the 
grave, when Dr. dishing said, < Brethren, let us pray ;' and in 
his prayer he seemed to rise above earth and draw his whole flock 
with all their sins and needs and wants, into the presence-chamber 
of heaven. 

"He prayed that the light of heaven might shine into the dark- 
ened spirit of their brother ; that he might give himself up utter- 
ly to the will of God ; that we might all do it, that we might be- 
come as little children in the kingdom of heaven. With the wise 
tact which distinguished his ministry he closed the meeting imme- 
diately after the prayer with one or two serious words of exhorta- 
tion. He feared lest what had been gained in impression might 
be talked away did he hold the meeting open to the well-meant, 
sincere but uninstructed efforts of the brethren to meet a case like 
that which had been laid open before them. 

"After the service was over and the throng slowly dispersed, 
Zeph remained in his place, rigid and still. One or two approached 
to speak to him ; there was in fact a tide of genuine sympathy and 
brotherly feeling that longed to express itself. He might have 
been caught up in this powerful current and borne into a haven 
of peace, had he been one to trust himself to the help of others ; 
but he looked neither to the right nor to the left ; his eyes were 
fixed on the floor ; his brown, bony hands held his old straw hat 
in a crushing grasp ; his whole attitude and aspect were repelling 
and stern to such a degree that none dared address him. 

"The crowd slowly passed on and out. Zeph sat alone, as he 
thought; but the minister, his wife, and little Dolly had remained 



428 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

at the upper end of the room. Suddenly, as if sent by an irresist- 
ible impulse, Dolly stepped rapidly down the room and with eager 
gaze laid her pretty little timid hand upon his shoulder, crying, in 
a voice tremulous at once with fear and with intensity, " O, why 
do you say that you can not be a Christian ? Don't you know 
that Christ loves you ? " 

" Christ loves you ! " The words thrilled through his soul with 
a strange, new power ; he opened his eyes and looked astonished 
into the little, earnest, pleading face. 

u Christ loves you," she repeated ; " oh, do believe it ! " 

" Loves me ! " he said, slowly. " Why should he ? " 

" But he does ; he loves us all. He died for us. He died for 
you. Oh, believe it. He'll help you ; he'll make you feel right. 
Only trust him. Please say you will ! " 

" Zeph looked at the little face earnestly, in a softened, wonder- 
ing way. A tear slowly stole down his hard cheek. 

" Thankee, dear child," he said. 

" You will believe it ? " 

" I'll try." 

" You will trust Him ? " 

" Zeph paused a moment, then rose up with a new and differ- 
ent expression in his face, and said, in a subdued and earnest 
voice, " I will. " 

" Amen ! " said the Doctor, who stood listening, and he silently 
grasped the old man's hand." 

In a few more pages, in which various characters are well 
settled in life, and Dolly becomes a young lady, marrying a 
distant cousin whom she meets during a visit to friends in 
Boston, the story of Poganuc People closes. 

The thin, wrinkled hands that laid down the pen with 
its last word, never more took up any protracted labor. 
The weary brain rested now, and in the years which 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 429 

followed, dwelt only upon the themes of life which were 
new every morning and fresh every evening. 

Mrs. Stowe was induced to furnish two short biographical 
articles for a work published by A. D. Worthington & Co., 
of Hartford, called " Our Famous Women." These were of 
her eldest sister, Catherine E. Beecher, and Mrs. A. D. T. 
Whitney whom she had familiarly known as one of her 
father's young parishioners in Boston. 

In 1881 Houghton, Mifflin & Co., who had now obtained 
control of most her works, issued the "Pussy Willow" 
stories, and another collection called " A Dog's Mission " 
both of which are most attractive juvenile books. 

The last notable event in the literary life of Harriet 
Beecher Stowe was the Garden Party given by Houghton, 
Mifflin & Co., in honor of her seventieth birthday. It was 
an event of absorbing interest to a large company of dis- 
tinguished people who were present, and the great reading 
public who watched from thousands of English-speaking 
homes for an account of the occasion. This was given in a 
supplement to the Atlantic Monthly. From the facts there 
given and personal sources of information we are furnished 
this account. 

Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., began some years ago a 
series of festivals to authors, who were contributors to The 
Atlantic Monthly. They gave first a Dinner to Mr. Whittier, 
followed by a Breakfast to Dr. Holmes ; upon the approach 
of Mrs. Stowe's 70th birthday they offered a similar tribute 
to her. Mrs. Stowe assented to their proposal, and as Hon. 
and Mrs. William Claflin generously tendered their spacious 
and beautiful country home and grounds at Newtonville, 
near Boston, for the occasion, the season and the place and 



430 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Mrs. Stowe's well known fondness for al fresco pleasures, 
suggested that the festival take the form of a Garden Party. 
The following invitation was sent to many persons in all 
parts of this country, and to several in Great Britain, 
eminent in letters, art, science, statesmanship, and philan- 
thropy : — 

Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company request the pleasure 
of your presence at a Garden Party in Honor of the Birthday of 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, 

at " The Old Elms " (the residence of Hon. William Claflin), 
Newtonville, Mass., on Wednesday, June Fourteenth, 1882, from 
3 to 7 P. M. 

4 Park Street, Boston, 
June 1st, 1882. 

About two hundred guests gathered in response to this 
invitation. 

Rev. Charles Beecher, Rev. and Mrs. Henry Ward 
Beecher, Rev. and Mrs. Edward Beecher, Prof. Calvin E. 
Stowe, Rev. and Mrs. Charles E. Stowe, Mrs. Mary B. Perkins, 
sister of Mrs. Stowe, Rev. and Henry F. Allen and his wife, 
who is the youngest daughter of Mrs. Stowe, Rev. Lyman 
Abbott, A. Bronson Alcott, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Arlo 
Bates, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Rose Terry Cooke, Abby 
Morton Diaz, Francis J. Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 
Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Guild, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Houghton, W. D. Howells, Lucy Larcom, 
Mr. and Mrs. George P. Lathrop, Mr. and Mrs. George H. 
Mifflin, Louise Chandler Moulton, Charles C. Perkins, Nora 
Perry, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Abby Sage Richardson. 



UNCLE tom's cabin. 431 

Mr. and Mrs. Horace E. Scudder, M. E. W. Sherwood, J. T. 
Trowbridge, Kate Gannett Wells, Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney, 
Anne Whitney, John G. Whittier, and many others of our 
American literary guild, formed a part of this famous Gar- 
den Party. 

The day proved all that could be desired for such a fes- 
tival. It was one of Nature's perfect June days, with the 
atmosphere exactly tempered and perfumed for a high holi- 
day, such as this proved to be at Nevvtonville. 

The hours from three to five o'clock were spent socially. 
On a stage under the shade of a great tent sat the most 
famous literary woman of the age, her sad sweet face 
framed in the gray hair which clustered in curls about her 
head. As guests arrived they were presented to Mrs. 
Stowe by Mr. H. 0. Houghton, and then they gathered in 
groups in the parlors, on the verandas, on the lawn, and in 
the refreshment rooms. 

At five o'clock they assembled in a large tent on the 
lawn, and after a song by Mrs. Humphrey Alleu, Mr. 
Houghton gave an interesting address. This was followed 
by remarks from Henry Ward Beecher, in which he said 
that for many years after the publication of " Uncle Tom's 
Cabin " he was given credit, by many wise people, of hav- 
ing written the book, He said " the matter at last became 
so scandalous that I determined to put an end to it, and 
therefore, I wrote 'Norwood.' That killed the thing, dead." 

Mr. Whittier was present, to the great satisfaction of all 
the company, but he excused himself from reading the 
poem he had written, which was read by Mr. Frank B. 
Sanborn. 

Dr. Holmes, on being presented, described the circum- 



432 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

stances in which he first read "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and 
the deepening of his interest in it, so that he soon laid aside 
the novel of Dickens which he had been reading, and gave 
himself up wholly to " Uncle Tom's Cabin " until he had 
reached the end. He then read his poem, full of his own 
fine humor and pithy reflections — three verses of which are 
here given, — 

" If every tongue that speaks her praise 
For whom I shape my tinkling phrase 

Were summoned to the table, 
The vocal chorus that would meet 
Of mingling accents harsh or sweet, 
From every land and tribe, would beat 

The polyglots of Babel 

Briton and Frenchman, Swede and Dane, 
Turk, Spaniard, Tartar of Ukraine, 

Hidalgo, Cossack, Cadi, 
High Dutchman and Low Dutchman, too, 
The Russian serf, the Polish Jew, 
Arab, Armenian, and Mantchoo 

Would shout, " We know the lady ! " 

Know her ! Who knows not Uncle Tom 
And her he learned his gospel from, 

Has never heard of Moses ; 
Full well the brave black hand we know 
That gave to freedom's grasp the hoe 
That killed the weed that used to grow 

Among the Southern roses." 

Then followed the poems of Mrs. A. D. T. "Whitney and 
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, the latter being read for her, by 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 433 

Dr. Holmes. J. T. Trowbridge then read a poem, which 
was afterwards printed in the Youth's Companion, entitled 
" The Cabin." 

Mrs. Allen, daughter of Mrs. Stowe, contributed a poem, 
which was read by her husband, Rev. Henry F. Allen. 

Mrs. Annie Fields who was at this time in Europe, wrote 
a poem in honor of the occasion, which was then read, fol- 
lowed by the bright sonnet of Miss Charlotte F. Bates. 

Speeches were made by Judge Albion W. Tourgee, Rev. 
Edward Beech er, Mr. Edward Atkinson and others. Mr. 
Atkinson described an interview between Professor Lieber 
and Senator Preston, of South Carolina, who was of the 
extreme type of Southern men before the war. "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin " had just appeared, and conversation turned 
upon it. The senator was strongly excited, and in reply to 
a question he said, " We have read Uncle Tom's Cabin, and 
I know it is true. I can match every instance in it out of 
my own experience." 

Music by the Germania Band and the Beethoven Club, 
and songs by Mrs. Humphrey Allen at intervals during the 
speeches and poems, lent variety and enjoyment to the 
brilliant entertainment. 

Mr. Houghton then stated that Mrs. Stowe had consented 
to say a few words, and as she came to the front of the 
platform her earnest face lighted with deep feeling, her 
speaking eyes looked kindly upon the company, all of 
whom she saw were warm with sympathy and love for her. 

Many of them were veterans of the abolition "Old 
Guard," personally unassuming and "fanatical" as ever, but 
profoundly satisfied now that fulfillment of their hope had 
come. 



484 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

Everyone rose by a simultaneous impulse of affectionate 
respect, and listened with eager interest while in her simple 
and unemotional manner, she spoke as follows : — 

" I wish to say that I thank all my friends from my heart, 
— that is all. And one thing more, — and that is, if any of 
you have doubt, or sorrow, or pain, if you doubt about this 
world, just remember what God has done; just remember 
that this great sorrow of slavery has gone, gone by forever. 
I see it every day at the South. I walk about there and 
see the lowly cabins. I see these people growing richer 
and richer. I see men very happy in their lowly lot ; but 
to be sure, you must have patience with them. They are 
not perfect, but have their faults, and they are serious faults 
in the view of white people. But they are very happy, 
that is evident, and they know how to enjoy themselves,—- 
a great deal more than you do. An old negro friend in our 
neighborhood has got a new, nice two-story house, and an 
orange grove, and a sugar-mill. He has got a lot of money 
besides. Mr. Stowe met him one day, and he said, 'I have 
got twenty head of cattle, four head of ' hoss,' forty head of 
hen, and I have got ten children, all mine, every one mine. 1 
Well, now, that is a thing that a black man could not say 
once, and this man was sixty years old before he could say 
it. "With all the faults of the colored people, take a man 
and put him down with nothing but his hands, and how 
many could say as much as that? I think they have done 
well. 

" A little while ago they had at his house an evening fes- 
tival for their church, and raised fifty dollars. We white 
folks took our carriages, and when we reached the house 
we found it fixed nicely. Every one of his daughters knew 



UNCLE TOM'S cabin. 435 

how to cook. They had a good place for the festival. Their 
suppers were spread on little white tables, with nice clean 
cloths on them. People paid fifty cents for supper. They 
got between fifty and sixty dollars, and had one of the best 
frolics you could imagine. They had also for supper ice- 
cream, which they made themselves. 

" That is the sort of thing I see going on around me. Let 
us never doubt. Everything that ought to happen, is going 
to happen."" In those last Words was condensed her living 
faith in the goodness of God and His working all things for 
the best. It was a belief which she never gave up, in the 
darkest hours of her life. It was the one conviction which 
enabled her to do her grand work. She had courage and 
its resultant attribute hope, which Wilkinson touchingly 
characterizes " that last obduracy of noble minds." 

After Mrs. Stowe's remarks, Mr. Houghton felicitously 
expressed the gratitude of the company to Mr. and Mrs. 
Claflin for the kind courtesy which had, with rare generos- 
ity, given their house and grounds for the festival. The 
company then slowly dispersed, many gathering about Mrs. 
Stowe for congratulation and farewell. 

Many letters of regret were received, but only four of 
them were read at the Garden Party. 

These letters were placed in Mrs. Stowe's hands, — all of 
them expressing regret in not being able to be present to 
participate in the pleasures of the festival, and showing 
strong appreciation and admiration for her and the power- 
ful influence she had exerted throughout the land. Follow- 
ing are the names of some illustrious people from whom 
these letters were received: — R. B. Hayes, J. R. Lowell, 
George William Curtis, G. W. Cable, Thomas K. Beecher, 
Mary Mapes Dodge, II. M. Aklen, Rebecca Harding Davis, 



436 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

George Cary Eggleston, "Wendell Phillips, Henry Cabot 
Lodge, Rev. William H. Beecher, Rev. Phillips Brooks, 
Prof. Alexander Agassiz, John Burroughs, Henry James, 
Rev. Samuel Longfellow, Ernest Longfellow, and the 
Misses Longfellow, Dr. E. W. Emerson, Judge Nathaniel 
Holmes, Louise M. Alcott, Julia Ward Howe, Col. T. 
W. Higginson, S. L. Clemens, Dr. Samuel Eliot, Hon. Carl 
Schurz, Rev. Dr. C. A. Bartol, Rev. Edward Abbott, and 
many others. 

Rose Terry Cooke, her beloved friend and young co-la 
borer in literature, especially that pertaining to abolition, 
early New England Theology, and characteristic Yankee 
thought and custom, has said of this occasion: 

" Praise was showered upon her like incense; poems read 
in her honor ; and before her gathered a crowd of friends 
with love and laud in every eye, on every lip; but it was 
not for the praise of men to ruffle her serene countenance 
or disturb the dreamy peace of her eyes, that seemed bent 
upon some far away distance, where the babble of earth is 
heard no more, but the silent welcome of heaven is ready 
and waiting. 

She received her ovation with the calm simplicity of a 
child, and in a few words of gracious thanks and counsel, 
dismissed her guests, when all their speech had been uttered, 
and went out with her husband, her son and her grandchil- 
dren into the fresh June air, the young summer verdure, 
and the crowding flowers, and away to her home and its 
duties, as a saint to her cell, untouched by the hot breath 
of flattery, unmoved by the loud plaudits of men, calm in 
that mild consciousness of devotion and duty that is deeper 
and dearer than this life's most earnest homage, or its rich- 
est gifts." 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN". 437 

With this event ended, in effect, the public career of the 
author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The remaining years of 
her life were quiet and restful. She had leisure; the deli- 
cious ease and freedom from pressing work, for which she 
had longed so many burdened years. 

She enjoyed the sweet do-nothingness which should come 
to all, in the afternoon of their lives. 

She could indulge her desire — long suppressed in her 
laborious literary life — to read. 

She could take precious mornings, all to herself, in the 
green fields and woods. She could stop by the way to call 
upon a friend. And, when her husband, bowed with the 
weight of years, became ill, needing tender care, she could 
give it to him, with the fullness and devotion which free- 
dom from other duties permitted. 

At last, when he had passed on, she could live in serene 
contentment, quietly awaiting her summons to follow him 
whither so many loved ones seemed to be drawing her heart 
and soul. 

When her mind, from the weakening of its mortal case- 
ment, gradually became abstracted from her earthly sur- 
roundings, and it appeared, a year ago, that the call had 
come for her to enter the new life, the world paused, dread- 
ing to hear of the death of the grandest woman of the age. 

Her wandering thoughts were full of the sublimities of 
the promised land where so many friends reached forth wel- 
coming hands. 

There she would be free from physical ills ; there 
she would be young again ; there would the vigor of 
her spiritual self be restored ; there would she find the 
reward for her work here: but so strong was her sym- 



438 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

pathy with this world, so long had her thoughts and feel- 
ings been turned towards the weal and woe of humanity, 
that the thread would not be severed, and she still stands 
with reluctant feet near the brink of the river. 

She is forgetful of the past. She no longer regards the 
future with intelligent anticipations. She is dimmed and 
deluded as to earthly concerns, yet holds with marvelous 
tenacity to her physical tenement. 

It has been said she died, when her clouded intelligence 
appeared to go out under the fell stroke of apoplexy, but it 
still flashes up clearly at intervals, showing that she is merely 
imprisoned by bodily infirmities, until, her spirit finally 
released, the windows shall open toward Heaven, and her 
freed soul go home. 

When Harriet Beecher Stowe laid down her pen, a great 
mental and spiritual force ceased to act. When she rested 
from work, an influence which has proved more pervasive 
and lasting than that of any other living writer, no longer 
thrilled upon the questions of the age. 

When she had said her farewell to the world, in the few 
simple words at the Birthday Garden Party, there left the 
stage a woman who has marked an era; one who, superior 
to the ephemeral interests of humanity in general, and her 
sex in particular, dealt in principles ; who looked over and 
beyond social and political conventionalities at eternal 
truths ; and having received an immortal message spoke it, 
fearlessly — with pain often, but grandly, gloriously. 

A genius she was, with high and peculiar gifts of nature 
and an intuitive power, which guided her unerringly to the 
ends to be achieved, but supporting it, was a conscientious- 









~1 




Harriet Beecher Stowe in Her Old Age. 



UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. 439 

ness that was sublime, a courage that was indomitable, a 
persistence that was irresistible. 

To these qualities, must be attributed the prominence she 
held even over that mighty generation of her own family, 
which is now passing away. Among the tremendous influ- 
ences which went forth from its array of orators, scholars 
and teachers, hers was strongest and most enduring. 

To these forces, must be credited her political status, 
which is high among the illustrious company of American 
statesmen, not one of whom ever made so powerful a mani- 
festo as her book against Negro Slavery, which marked an 
epoch not only in our national history but throughout tne 
civilized world. 

But for these, " Uncle Tom's Cabin," which a literary 
historian has recently declared " stands upon the top shelf, 
side by side with the ' Uliad,' 'Don Quixote,' 'Pilgrim's 
Progress,' and their half dozen peers," would never have 
been written. 

But for these living fires, her knowledge of the old sys- 
tems of New England theology, and observation of its effects 
upon human character, would never have found expression 
in " The Minister's Wooing " — a work whose literary 
merits alone, place her name with those of Irving, Bryant, 
Longfellow, Emerson, Hawthorne, Holmes, Lowell and Whit- 
tier, those great contemporaries who formed the first import- 
ant and distinctive wave of native American literary talent. 

It is stimulating, it is splendidly encouraging, to look 
through the eloquent beauty of her descriptions, through the 
tense fibre and rare strength of her arguments, through the 
melting tenderness and contagious humor of her philosophy, 
behind the almost unaccountable' momentum of her literary 



440 THE LIFE WORK OF THE AUTHOR OF 

power, to these moving springs. For back of the book was 
the mind and heart. Back of the work was the woman, 
brave, consistent and unassuming. 

So, she leaves us not only the noble legacy of her written 
thoughts, but the priceless heritage of her personal example. 

It is that of a well endowed life grandly lived. 



THE END. 






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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





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